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kazhewbrekker · 2 years

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january book reviews

the stolen heir : holly black ⭐⭐⭐⭐

it took me about a week to read this book and by that i mean i read half, wasn’t impressed, took a week and came back and finished it. like with the cruel prince, the beginning and middle of this book aren’t all that exciting in my opinion, but holly takes the cake as usual for her incredible endings. honestly at this point reading a holly black book is worth it just to see how she wraps it. but yeah, i think it was a good starting point for the duology, im positive the prisoner’s throne will be better, as was the case with tcp > twk. im happy to say towards the end i had really connected with oak and suren/wren, however i feel like despite how fun of a concept it is to put wren and jude in direct opposition its...hm, bad ? to clarify, i wish that i felt conflicted on who’s side i was rooting for. but even if wren was in the right, which...bridle aside she isnt, i would still be in jude’s corner simply because even with all the time spent with wren it’s not enough to...connect with her on the same level as i did with jude. and thats a heavy ask to be fair; jude is one of my favorite character’s in the ya/new adult genre. but i think a understandable worry with this duology is that the folk of the air series might overshadow this new story holly black is trying to tell. i can’t say definitively if it has or has not, but i think she’s done a better job of balancing the new characters and plots with reference to the old. it’ll really be a testament to how well she can keep both separate and important in the next book as she’s hinted that jude and cardan will have a bigger role (which makes sense, since we’re uhh going to war. uh oh).

the invisible life of addie la rue : v.e. schwab ⭐⭐⭐

i read 60% of this book probably over a year ago. maybe two. on a plane. this is a reoccurring problem. but i gotta say, schwab is the queen of concepts. she hasn’t had a single book concept that i wasn’t at least a little intrigued by. unfortunately, uhh, this doesn’t always translate to an interesting plot. the beginning of this book is good, it’s engaging (as far as i remember), bestie lost me when she introduced the most uninteresting man in the world: what’s-his-name. no actually, what was his name--hold on--henry ! his name is henry. he is boring. i understand his purpose in the story, but uhh, the most interesting thing about that man was...the deal he made with the devil i guess ? and that gets revealed so late in the game you have to wade through addie being infatuated with this Regular Guy (not that i blame her when he’s the only one that can remember her), but god, yeah that’s a pretty comprehensive reason for me putting this book down for so long. the ending though, see this is the important part, the ending was very good. i was happily surprised how open-ended it was. though the hopeless romantic that lives deep inside my chest and chews on my bones will continue to believe that the dark could learn to love, okay. i don’t think that should be held against me, either way addie wins. slay queen.

daisy jones & the six : taylor jenkins reid ⭐⭐⭐

very different book from the two other before this, lol. im pretty sure i picked up this book offhandedly the last time i went to b&n, i read the seven husbands of evelyn hugo last year and wasn’t...super impressed ? authors tend to hit me a lot harder with their debuts then second or third releases. for some reason. i really respect reid for her use of journalism styles to tell these fictional stories, how much historical research probably goes into making everything seem realistic. i do think--as a personal opinion--writing about music is a very challenging thing. it’s very difficult to properly convey how music sounds, or feels, without being able to hear the music itself. (i feel the same about dancing, but that’ll probably come up another day). but the story is as much about the music as it is about the complex interweaving relationship of the characters in and outside of the band. shout out to my girl, camilla, the best character in that book. i think the most impressive thing to me about the book, besides the stylistic choices (aka the interview aspect), is how the waves minor characters like camilla or teddy or simone make deeply effect every aspect of the story. very akin to real life, there’s so many people that can change the game for you--especially for character’s like daisy and billy who are so deep in substance abuse and addiction at certain points. overall, really great book, the very last page made me laugh out loud.

beach read : emily henry ⭐⭐⭐⭐

emily henry books feel like a guilty pleasure to me at this point. i started reading her books on my flight to new york last summer, which is coincidentally where i picked up a physical copy of beach read that slept in my suitcase for uhh...six months ? anyways i finally decided to read her after talking about emily henry and her books with a friend of mine. it was a very good decision on my part--this is my favorite of her books. i feel like i need to start with the things i dont like about this book, lol. my biggest pet peeve with contemporary romance is that every single one of these characters is an author, or a publisher, or does something in the literary industry. please stop. i get thats where a lot of these authors have experience, it is their field, but jesus christ can we just have like. an illiterate main character. someone with an undeniable hatred for everything book-related. let’s be quirky and different...please ? all that said, january and gus have some actually great conversations about writer’s block and how it feels to write outside of your comfort zone. i’ll say out of all the books ive read in recent years that have to do with writers (another of which being an emily henry book 🙄), this is the best its been done in my opinion. the relationship development in this book is just very gradual and i love that, the fact that they knew each other before, but not deeply enough to be friends so we still get to see them get to know each other beyond their work is really important to me. sidenote: completely understand what january means when she’s talking about the sad and depressing shit people write about in an undergrad creative writing program. good lord. the heavy topics in this book felt very well handled in the context of...yknow a romance novel, it was kind of nice to have a love interest that wasn’t like...secretly a huge asshole who’s hiding the worst secret in the world. they had me worried for a second there when the exwife showed up, but the swerve at the last second was very appreciated. this book would have a very different review if that had been handled differently. lemme tell you, lol. overall, very enjoyable, probably the most fun ive had in this genre since the hating game. wow.

#the stolen heir #the invisible life of addie la rue #daisy jones & the six #beach read #holly black #v.e. schwab #taylor jenkins reid #emily henry #january book review #book review #daisy jones and the six #the invisible life of addie larue

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idontcarejustletmelive · 11 months

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Bad Movie Decisions

Circle (2015)

Spoilers may follow...

03:29 Well, if this isn't an alien abduction scenario, I'm not sure what to make of it.

06:02 This guy deserves a Nobel prize for figuring out the murder system in less than six minutes. Although I am reminded of the Derren Brown episode on superstition where people had to figure out how they were scoring points and it turned out to just be every time a goldfish swam from one end of the tank to the other.

08:35 This is fine, but I'm already wondering how they're going to get an hour and a half out of the Murder Wheel of Fortune concept.

10:22 "I see 6 people in their 70s & 80s" says a snotty teen who sees people in their 60s.

10:23 I looked up the actors and some of them are in their 80s. My apologies kid!

10:32 Julie Benz is in this. She's in the background, but it's post-Buffy, so I can only assume she'll turn out to be the evil mastermind or something.

11:14 Why is everyone following the lead of a jock with an underbite?

12:03 Alien invasion confirmed. Glad they didn't try to hold onto that as a 'reveal'.

16:04 They're choosing who should die based on age and the so-called 43 year old obviously had a very hard paper round.

22:57 This very much has the feeling of an extended Twilight Zone episode. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

28:50 Cop next, c'mon folks.

29:25 Yassssss!

41:11 I'd volunteer just to not have to listen to Red Braces Business Man for another second.

46:18 Do 95% of people really believe in God? Is that a genuine statistic?

46:19 Googled it. Most sources have it more like 60-80%. I thought 95% sounded weirdly high.

48:15 How Sweater Vest is still here is the greatest mystery of all.

50:56 Red Braces gone full MAGA. Next for the death ray?

1:00:20 Is... is this just all about the American electoral system?

1:06:04 Maybe I'm a nihilist, but I don't get why they're all so desperate to drag out their existence.

1:09:45 I don't understand what the fuck the right wing voting block hopes to achieve beyond being arseholes, so I guess this is about the American electoral system.

1:11:36 Maybe Silent Man is the alien plant.

1:14:11 It really is a testament to the quality of the writing that they've got this much film out of this format.

1:23:14 The end was a bit of a wet fart, but otherwise not bad.

#badmoviedecisions #filmblr #circle #julie benz

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bespectacledbookworm · 1 year

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In Which I Hate "The Hating Game" (2021)

Watching the Hating Game. Here are my Thoughts:

•Okay, cool they hate each other.

• I was on board with this, we hate each other but we're attracted to each other thing, but then the team building thing.. I 'm getting weird vibes.

• THEY DON'T HATE EACH OTHER ENOUGH.

• Why is this guy acting so nice all of a sudden. It's like he's been nursing a crush on her forever or something. Which makes all his asshole-ness even worse??

• I want Lucy to punch him. Like. Really hurt him.

It just gets worse from here

• There's not enough angst here, and there's too much comfort. Don't like it.

• If I were her, I would have been PISSED if someone cleaned up my house!! Are you kidding me?? Where is everything? Where is the shredded up newspaper that I know I left in this corner under this sweater???? I would have been pissed.

• Also, him being the "unsuccessful " child does not excuse the shit he's been pulling? He was the asshole from day one??

• Wooow so her boss really just admitted to not valuing her enough. What happened to women holding up women.

• Sorry I'm still pissed that his whole personality has suddenly done a 180 and now he's nice.

•Also apparently she's supposed to be enamored by his calling her shortcake? It's the dumbest thing I'v ever heard. I guess it's supposed to coincide with her liking strawberry juice or something. Who drinks strawberry juice.

• His apartment is too clean. God, it angers me. Why do people insist on living in houses that don't look like they're lived in?

• This guy is not the same guy from the beginning. How apt this movie is called the hating game because I'm just hate watching it now.

•Now he's cockblocking himself!? What, is he saving himself for marriage???

•To be sure, I also make it a point to not a miss an opportunity to slay at weddings with incredible fashion sense, but I would have told him to watch his nose and slammed the door.

•Okay I'm immediately a fan of this concierge/ receptionist at the front desk.

•OOOH HERE WE GO "THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED" they better fuck or i'm exiting out.

•I take it back. It was not cathartic whatsoever. If it was that easy, why stop her at the beginning?! I'm starting to think this movie should have been from his perspective... Probably would have explained so much and put it into context.

• I HATE THIS the red "x's" are explained and it's all the times he wanted to kiss her. I really hope this book is waaaay better than this. IF he really liked her that much but kept up a hating front. He should be like. psychotically obsessed with her. Like. Hannigraham levels of obsessed.

• WELL Lucy got to kick someone's ass, but it was still the wrong person... And it was not physical. She also should have backhanded the dad? Just saying.

• He never hated her! THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT I wanted them to actually hate each other come on that's the best part of enemies to lovers...

•Manic Pixie Twit. I guess the fact that I hate this so much is a testament to character writing?

•ok OBVIOUSLY some miscommunication is happening or this movie is about to take the best turn and make this guy the actual villain.

• Okay this proposal is AO3. I think that's the point, lol.

•this movie is comparing JOSH to MR. DARCY are you kidding me.

•So are we just supposed to assume that it WAS miscommunication because we did not get a confirmation on that.

•So she was the only one who hated in this movie. BOOORIIIING.

This movie didn't go hard enough. Someone please tell me that the book was a thousand times better.

#heena's posts #the hating game #it kinda weirdly reinforced that “he's only being mean to you bc he likes you” thing #LET THEM HATE EACH OTHER

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rhettcastillo · 1 year

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starter for @liv-lees —

It had come in a few weeks ago, and how she didn't find it, he'd never know. He guessed it was a testament to just how not nosy his girlfriend was, despite living with him. He wasn't a nervous man, but this made him nervous. She'd beaten him to every plan he'd ever had, but he knew she wasn't thinking about this. There was a lot on their collective plate, but this had been in the works for more than a few months at this point. Tonight, the summer was blowing and the sun was getting them closer to the golden hour, which was one of his favorite times of day.

Passenger side of his truck, they drove through some dirt roads, which was a thing they liked to do, go for a ride, listen to the radio, just be with each other. The dogs were in the bed of the truck, and when they pulled over to a familiar spot on some adjacent land that Rhett was lowly interested in buying — another tract of 30 acres that was adjacent to his own 30. Stepping out of the truck, he went to open the door for, it was a shitty truck, only liked to be opened a certain way and he knew it well.

The little box was tucked into his jeans, and then he went to let the dogs out, which were off like a rocket. They had taken to their walks at the cooler part of the afternoon, the golden part of the day starting to finally ease off in the heat, and he moved to walk next to her, his mind tumbling over about a million thoughts. He wasn't one to get jittery, but he would admit his heart was going like a rocket. He'd been something of waiting for the right time, and then he got impatient, it had to be tonight, it had to be theirs and on their time.

She had been talking about something, but he was too busy thinking about what he was going to do, thinking about where they were going, and this feeling in his chest. There had been a lot of moments in Rhett's life that were important, that he knew were important, and he just breezed past them. This moment, though, he wanted to linger in. He'd always been a reckless guy, so this care, this was something that was foreign to him. But he'd also been an impatient man, ready to plow ahead, relentless and dauntless in his pursuit of something. He was holding his breath, he knew it, trying to slow time, trying to focus on the small items, the ways her eyes rolled when she talked about a coworker, how her pinky reached for him, all those things.

When they ambled a little while, keeping conversation up, the dogs circling back for them to send them out again, and finally he was ready, it was the right place, the canyon on one side, he stopped. "So, there's something I've been meaning to talk about," Rhett said with a nod. "You're all moved in, and God knows, I am this traditional, unmovable sort of man. And I got this mean streak about three counties wide, I just took a yearly trip where I parachute into the wilderness and have to navigate myself out..." He shook his head. "I'm not perfect, not even a little. In fact, most of the time, I'm composed of all these cracks and sharp edges. But you," he softened. "You do this thing where you take those cracks and fill them with gold, some how, without a file or malice, make my rough edges a little smoother, make this whole thing I am doing... feel worth it."

There was something about him, the old archaic part of him, that would never be on his knees and to this day, this moment, it felt cheesy, to step down, and get that little box out, but damn it, if he didn't do it anyway. As he did so, he saw both of the asshole dogs come out from the brush and gave them both a withering glare that deterred them from knocking him over. Opening the box he showed her the diamond and pearl that were set together. "Would you do me the honor to be my bride?"

#liv

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lesfeldickbiblestudy · 2 years

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Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 61 THE GLORIOUS PROMISES TO ISRAEL ISAIAH 54:1 – 57:1 We want to thank everybody for coming today. We just praise the Lord! I was reminding our studio audience, for those of you out in television, that we started fourteen years ago this month (Oct 2004). We decided this morning that we taped our very first program fourteen years ago. It doesn’t seem possible, but we had probably fifteen people in attendance for that first taping and today we have well over 100. So, over the years it’s gradually been growing. Again, I want to thank all of you in the studio audience for putting forth the effort. I know a lot of you have driven a long way. We’ve got folks here from Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and, of course, Oklahoma. Okay, now let’s get back where we’re going to start in Isaiah 54 verse 1. Now, again, for those of you who may be new to the program, we like to repeat and repeat and repeat for your benefit. Remember, now, that Isaiah is writing 700 years before Christ, and yet in some of these things he writes as though it’s almost a past tense. That is how unique prophecy is in our Bible. And again, I keep repeating this - there is no other book on earth that can do that. Only our Bible, the Word of God, can tell things hundreds and hundreds of years in advance, as if it’s past, and never forget that. Whenever they try to lift up some other religion and their writer and their book and their god, they cannot hold a candle to this Book, because they cannot tell one event in the future. Even your most famous fortunetellers, like Jean Dixon a few years ago, you know what their batting average is at the very best? Fifty percent. That’s all they are, just 50 percent guesses. But this Book is right 100 percent and it’s written, many times, thousands of years in advance. We’re going to see some of that in our first half-hour this afternoon. So, again, we always want to remember that this is written in 700 BC. The nation of Israel has just recently been divided into the Northern Kingdom with ten tribes, the Southern Kingdom with two. But yet, Isaiah, living in the Southern Kingdom, will address both the Northern and the Southern Kingdom. And, of course, 700 BC is around a hundred years before Nebuchadnezzar will come in and destroy the city and the temple and take Israel captive. Again, it’s written as though it’s just right out in front of them. Now, as I was driving up yet today I was mulling over how often we forget the vast amount of time that elapses up through the Old Testament. In other words, from Moses until King David was almost 500 years. Then, from King David until Isaiah starts writing about the coming judgments and everything is another 300 years. Now, think about that. That’s a long time! My, we’ve been a nation less than that. So, all these events that are unfolding throughout our Old Testament are not just within a short period of time. It’s over hundreds and hundreds of years. God’s wheels grind slowly and surely. Okay, we’ll pick up where we left off after the last taping and the prophecy concerning Christ’s crucifixion – the graphic description of His suffering and His death in chapters 52 & 53. Let’s go on into chapter 54 as we come into the glorious promises that will follow Israel. First, after they’ve come back from the Babylonian captivity, they re-establish Temple worship. But the big picture, remember, which is what we’re always looking at, is after the horrors of the seven years of Tribulation. Christ will return and Israel is going to have all these Old Testament promises fulfilled. This is what we’re going to look at right here. Isaiah 54:1a "Sing, O barren, (Well, what does singing remind you of? Good feelings, joy, and happiness.) thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child:…" More than likely, what Isaiah is referring to are those years when Israel was spiritually dead.

There were hundreds of years where Israel was steeped in their unbelief and their rebellion, and, consequently, there was no joy or an increase in blessings or anything else. So, now with the hope of this coming kingdom, they can sing like one who has travailed. Isaiah 54:1b "..for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD." All right, now that’s kind of a tough one to explain, so I’m going to pass over that. Come down to verse two. (Transcriber’s note: Don’t you love someone who isn’t afraid to say, "I don’t know?") Isaiah 54:2a "Enlarge the place of thy tent,…" What does that speak of? Well, progressive growth. When you enlarge the tent it just simply means that you’re getting ready for more occupants. That’s what Israel is to do. They’re to get ready, now, for great expansion of their blessings. Isaiah 54:2b "…and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;" Remember, he’s speaking of a tent back in antiquity and the tent pegs would be stretched out further away to make room for a larger tent. In other words, it is a symbolic picture of how the Nation will be increasing in blessings. Isaiah 54:3a "For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; (Blessings upon blessings are waiting for the nation of Israel.) and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,…" Now, you’ve got to remember, since the Babylonian invasion and destruction of the city according to Scripture, especially from that point on Israel has been under the heavy boot of the Gentile empires. They have never enjoyed national blessings as a separate entity. But the day is coming when they will. Not only will they enjoy the blessings, but they’re going to be supreme over all the Gentile nations. We’re going to look at a few of those in just a moment. Isaiah 54:3b "…and make the desolate cities to be inhabited." In other words, it’s going to be a great growth of Israel’s population. Now, let’s go back and look at a few of those promises that are sprinkled throughout the Old Testament looking forward to this day when Israel will finally cash in on all of these blessings of the promises. Let’s go all the way back, if you will, to Deuteronomy chapter 28, and we’ll get a glimpse of the blessings that are awaiting the Nation of Israel. They have never enjoyed this in their history. Not even close. But the day is coming when they will. Now, they had it as a prospect all through their history but because of their unbelief, their belligerence, their wickedness, and their lifestyle of sin, they never experienced it. All right, let’s drop all the way in at verse 9. Now, these are all promises that God has made to the Nation of Israel. Deuteronomy 28:9-12a "The LORD shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. (In other words, God demands obedience.) 10. And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, (They’re going to be productive beyond our imagination.) in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land (the Land of Promise) which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12. The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." What’s Israel’s financial situation today? They have to borrow constantly or they couldn’t survive. All right, but it’s going to be reversed. Israel will be in a position to lend to other nations. Deuteronomy 28:13 "And the LORD shall make thee the (what?) head, (They’re going to be the top nation of the nations when Christ returns and sets up His kingdom.) and not the tail;

and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:" Well, that’s one of the very earliest Scriptures, long before they even got into the Land of Promise. But, all the way up through the Old Testament you have these promises of how Israel will one day enjoy the blessings. Now, let’s see, let’s go to Zechariah, that’s the next to the last book in your Old Testament. We’ll be running across some others before we leave Isaiah in the next few programs. As you get to Zechariah chapter 8, we’ll begin at verse 20. We’ve used these verses, especially in our classes and seminars, but I don’t think I’ve used them much on the program. Now remember, these are all Old Testament prophecies and promises. None of these have been fulfilled as yet, but they will. Now, I guess this is as good a time as any to stop. You know, there are those who oppose my line of teaching by saying that God is all through with the Jew. That when Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, that was the end of all these promises. They say that Israel disappeared, that they faded away as a nation of people and all the promises have been turned over to the church. Some people call it "replacement theology." I call it plain old "amillennialism." Now, there’s another new name for it, and it is "preterism." Well, if they claim that there’s nothing more to be fulfilled after 70 AD, then all these promises have failed! Then our God has failed! I might as well throw the Book away and go home! But, they haven’t! They’re still going to be fulfilled. Our God is still in control. Those people in the Middle East are Jews. They try to reject that fact, but they’re Jews. They’re Israel. In fact, I just had a call, I think early this morning, about "all the tribes of Israel." I said, "Well, you’ve got to remember that they never were "lost." They all went into the Babylonian captivity. They all came back under Ezra and Nehemiah." Then I took him to the verse where Peter says in Acts 2:36, "…therefore let the whole house of Israel know assuredly." So, what does that tell you? Even in Peter’s day, that Pentecostal crowd included Jews of every tribe. None of them were ever lost. The same way when the 144,000 will be chosen out of Israel at the very beginning of the Tribulation, they’re all there. They’re all going to be able to provide 12,000 young men from every tribe to fulfill the 144,000. They’re not lost. God knows who they are. All right, so here we have it again. This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. But it will be! Zechariah 8:20a "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass,…" Is God lying? No, He’s not lying! Is He incapable of fulfilling it? No, He’s not incapable. He is fully capable and He will! Zechariah 8:20b-23 "…that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21. And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22. Yea, many people and strong nations (That’s the Gentile world.) shall come to seek the LORD of hosts (Where?) in Jerusalem, (That’ll be the world’s capital) and to pray before the LORD. 23. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days (When Israel has her King.) it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: (Why?) for we have heard that God is with you." Why? Because of all these promises. All right, let’s go into the New Testament. Let’s go into Luke chapter 1, and we’ll drop down to verse 64. While you’re looking for it, I’ll give you the background. You remember that one of the priests of Israel was a man by the name of Zacharias and his wife’s name was Elizabeth. Zacharias and Elizabeth supernaturally had a child whose name was John the Baptist. All right, all during Elizabeth’s gestation of nine months, Zacharias was stricken speechless.

He could not talk. Practically everybody in Israel knew it. But, when the child was born and they asked Elizabeth what the name would be, she said, "John." Well, they were all shook up because no Jew had ever been called John, so they trot up to the Temple and find Zacharias. They write on a tablet that the baby had been born and what’s to be his name? He took the pen and wrote, "John." As soon as he wrote John, he got his voice back. Well, then everybody was all alarmed. What in the world’s going on? All right, let’s pick it up in verse 64, Luke 1:64-65 "And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. 65. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea." Well, like what? This elderly couple, she conceived, and the minute she conceived he lost his voice. And he’s been absolutely, what we call ‘dumb,’ for nine months. But, as soon as the baby was born he’s got his voice back. What’s going on? All right, here we go, verse 66: Luke 1:66 "And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him." Now remember, we’re not talking about Jesus, we’re talking about John the Baptist. Luke 1:67a "And his father Zacharias (the priest) was filled with the Holy Spirit,…" Now, this is long before Pentecost. Yet, he’s filled with the Holy Spirit, which means that everything he says is directed from God Himself. This isn’t wishful Jewish thinking; this is God speaking through this Spirit-filled priest. All right, now this is what he says, and remember what we’ve just read in the Old Testament. Luke 1:67-69 "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he prophesied, saying, 68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he (the Lord) hath visited and redeemed his people, 69. And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;" Now, as we read this, be careful to watch, is there any reference to Gentiles? Not a word. This is all dealing with the promises made to Israel, and none of these promises apply to the Gentiles except as they come through Israel. So, these promises here are to the Nation. Luke 1:70-71 "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: (Now, watch the language.) 71. That we should be saved from our (not sins, what?) enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;" All right, now stop and think. Who were Israel’s enemies from day one? Well, the Arab world. You know, I always have a good time going back in to Nehemiah especially in my classes here in Oklahoma. I show that even in the day of Nehemiah, when they were trying to rebuild the city wall and the city gate, who was constantly opposing them? The Arabs. It got to the place where if the Jews wanted to work they had to work with a trowel in one hand and a weapon in the other, or they couldn’t get anything done. So, it’s always been this way. But you can just fast forward up to 2004 as we tape this, and it’s still the same. All these promises are still valid that the day will come when Israel won’t have to worry about the Arab world. Israel won’t have to worry about Nazis or Communists or anybody else. They’re going to be under the protective care of their Messiah King. Luke 1:72-73 "72. To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; (What covenant?) 73. The oath which he swore to our father Abraham," Now, you’ve got to remember (I’m going to cover the covenants when we finish Isaiah) that in that Abrahamic Covenant, Abraham was promised a nation of people totally different than anybody else. That reminds me of something else I thought of on the way up. I read a long time ago how God made the Nation of Israel "different’. They have been and still are. But what was the eternal purpose in it? To prove that nobody in the human race is any different from the other.

So, Israel was shown to be different to prove they’re no different. Now, did I make my point? The whole Adamic race, whether it’s Jew or Gentile, are still sons of Adam. All right, now let’s go back again. The Abrahamic Covenant promised that out of Abraham and Sarah would descend this special nation of people. Why would it be special? Because out of Israel would come first the Word of God, out of Israel would come the Messiah, and out of Israel would come all the prophetic promises. You’ve heard me say it over and over, Israel is the hub of God’s wheel; you pull Israel out, you destroy the nation of Israel, and God’s program falls apart, and, again, you could throw the Book away. But, Israel will never, never leave. Okay, let’s go a couple more verses here; our time is about gone already. Luke 1:74-75 "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75. In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life." Which, of course, will go on into eternity. Then he goes on to show the promises made to the man John the Baptist. But anyway, the promises are all the way through, and if we had the time we could go all the way back to the last chapters of Revelation when the glories of that kingdom on earth will be fulfilled on behalf of the nation of Israel. All right, for the next couple of minutes let’s go back again to Isaiah chapter 54 and look at verse 3, again. Isaiah 54:3-4 "For thou shalt break forth on the right and on the left; and thy seed (In other words, the coming generations) shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4. Fear not;…" Now, you’ve got to remember that before all this could come to pass, Israel is going to go through 3000 years of suffering and turmoil. Three thousand years. Now, remember that when we come into the next program, next half-hour. I’m going to show you how God compares it in His line of thinking. Isaiah 54:4 "…for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth,…" That is as a nation they’ll forget all the trials and tribulation that the nation of Israel has gone through over these hundreds and hundreds of years. Isaiah 54:4 "…and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. This is when God left the Nation to their own devices and said you are no longer my people. That’s been over a good portion of their national lifetime. All right, verse 5: Isaiah 54:5 "For thy Maker (the Creator) is thine husband;…" Now, here we have that husband and wife relationship especially as Hosea points it out. Maybe someday we’ll teach Hosea on the air. I’ve been thinking about it. In Hosea’s little six or seven chapters we have a beautiful picture of Israel as the adulterous wife of Jehovah. Now, why do I call her adulterous? Because, she ran after other gods. Just like an unfaithful woman will chase after men who are not her husband, so Israel chased after other lovers, nationally speaking, in the realm of the spiritual. So, she’s called the unfaithful wife of Jehovah. But one day, Jehovah will forgive her of all of her sin and she will come in and be that blessed wife of the husband. That is the beautiful picture portrayed in Hosea. Isaiah 54:5 "For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called." Now, there again, that puts all other gods and goddesses and religions, whatever you want to call them, it just puts them down into the realm of nothingness, because only the God of Israel is the God of Creation and the God of this Book. Isaiah 54:6-7a "For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, (and that marriage has been dissipated by unfaithfulness because of Israel’s chasing after other gods) when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7. For a small (Now watch this.

Here’s what I was coming to.) moment have I forsaken thee;…" And what’s He calling a small moment? Three thousand years! Isn’t that something? Yet, that’s the eternalness of our God. Three thousand years are but a moment in His line of thinking. It’s so hard for us mortals to comprehend that. That’s why, along with my enthusiasm for the soon return and as we see the world seemingly getting so ready for Christ to enter back into human history, that I have to always temper my enthusiasm with this very thing, that with God time means nothing. Ten years isn’t even a split second in His line of thinking. So, yes, I think the Lord could be coming in the next few years, but God may think otherwise.

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vaguely-concerned · 2 years

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Some Harrow the Ninth reread thoughts because these books get their hooks in me like little else can:

- one thing that really fucking took me out at the knees this time was noticing that before answering god's question whether he forgives him... augustine looks around the room not just at mercy's desecrated body, but at cytherea and g1deon too. he looks around a room of dead siblings with the eyes of a dead sibling. (he probably doesn't know g1deon is dead but that somehow makes it even sadder to me, that now the first and the last brother are gone and he doesn't even realize it). especially with the way god's attitude to him is described as a longsuffering parent welcoming home a kid who's been out past their curfew and augustine and mercy holding each other as 'two children who'd had a nightmare and woken in a fright'... it seems deliberate that in front of gideon we see a subtle emphasis of god in the aspect of the father (as unlike harrow she doesn't really care that much about him as God tm), and surprise! he's not a great dad!!!! ('I will love all of you forever and I never wanted any harm to come to any of you' huh. well those forevers and nevers lasted all of five minutes john guess you did master time after all)

sorry for having my augustine brain on all the time, I truly cannot help it, but there is something for me in this of like... him being stuck in reliving his specific core trauma (the loss of a sibling) again and again and again over the myriad. all of them lost someone each time a fellow lyctor died, of course, but in his case losing brothers and sisters left right and center has that additional edge to it. ('starting to look less like tragedy and more like carelessness' etc. lol) like idk who decided the lyctors should refer to each other as siblings -- one could make a decent guess it was john tho, no way in hell did augustine and mercy look at each other and come up with that one voluntarily fksjdfhjkasd -- but it added an extra level of fuckery to augustine's Whole Deal there.

also i must repeat myself: it is unspeakably metal of augustine to make god himself ask him for forgiveness just so he gets to tell him no. that's the dream. forget steel, that's balls of nuclear pasta level gutsy (yes I did look up what the hardest known material in the universe is and how could I not include it once I knew jfdkshsafksad). I mean he's terrible and irredeemable by pretty much any metric but I cannot help but stan, I can only apologize (thoughts about other stuff under the cut because this got... long oh boy)

- "There is no such thing as forgiveness"

may we talk again about how unspeakably sinister of a sentence that is for GOD (a man who MADE himself God) to speak fsdhkssadfhsakjdf. this dude sets the agenda for the universe and I suppose that's why it's all Like That. he's an old testament kinda guy I guess

also the profound arrogance in then asking (well I mean. it's an order, isn't it, it's 'forgive me or -- and oh this would be so awkward and tedious for us all don't make me do it pwease🥺-- perish') these people who've been closest to him to forgive him, a whole ten minutes later. it goes to show he's not actually after forgiveness at all, because forgiveness implies considering someone else having the right and capability to not just judge you but even behold you truly in the first place, allowing them on your level spiritually so to speak. that's the 'he's never as sentimental as you think' showing through. he simply wants submission, and for things to not have to be uncomfortable for him, even if that makes everyone around him have to live in fear. (which I think is also why he's so rankled by the (false <3) idea that mercy and augustine have been faking not liking each other all this time. at this point that truly is the least of his worries in the grand scheme of things!!! but it's been emotionally uncomfortable for john to deal with all those years, and what could be a greater sin than causing the emperor undying emotional discomfort. -_____-)

I believe John DOES genuinely still have that human need for love and closeness, it's just that it will always, always be second to his need to be god, and be loved and obeyed as god, ultimate and unquestioned, unquestionable. he sucks and I'm obsessed with it

- can u believe. that harrow has unwittingly met both her in-laws. and they made it weird. by jove did they make it so weird. weirder even than how gideon met them??? I'm not sure. at least harrow never had to see god naked (without skin on level naked briefly too) within half an hour of meeting him. on the other hand her MIL did try to hijack her very soul while being... arguably civil at least to gideon. you know, it's hard to make a true comparison here. either way I'm sorry about both your lives kids

- augustine making it clear in the shittiest way possible to harrow that he doesn't care about her or what she thinks as one of their first interactions, her telling him "then that will be your downfall", AND THEN THE ENTIRE REST OF THE BOOK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. right up there with 'I need a special moment to go to hell'. I reiterate my 'if even one person on this shitty bone-bejeweled space station had actually listened to harrow or taken any real non-condescending interest in her at all this plot would have gone v e r y differently' point

- the way gideon's voice bleeds through when the second person narrative describes harrow in moments of agony or vulnerability ('you idiot baby, you absolute sadsack' etc.)........ how does that somehow come across as so much more pained for her and loving than any endearment ever could. it's the same logic as the 'terrible teens', who she would have died for. and she rightfully wants to kick the absolute shit out of ianthe for the things she pulled on harrow when she was that agonized and vulnerable. gideon I love and treasure you. (listen I enjoy watching ianthe do her thing very much but she really found out harrow struggles to hold on to reality and decided making her own hair gaslight her forever was a fun diverting little thing to do with her time. gideon pull her ass off I'll hold your sunglasses baby)

- I did cry over 'was that the day you decided you wanted to die?' again. what of it. don't look at me. (it's just so... I mean... gideon hasn't just been convinced she killed harrow's parents, she was sure she made her want to die as well. and at this point in the book she's already felt harrow's suicidality from the inside many times and knows that's not at all as simple as that, but the trauma logic still lingers. and there's no palamedes there this time to patiently and kindly help her pick it apart until there's just the truth that they were simply two abandoned unloved children hurting each other as a way to love because they knew nothing else. agony. suffering.)

- oh. I just realized that the augustine and mercy hug at the end mirrors the hugs harrow gets from palamedes and ortus earlier in the book. where it's an older brother figure comforting a younger sister. (especially considering that their relationship, as full of mutual loathing and genuine dislike as it is, is also one of the very few remaining things about them that's recognizably human in any way. clearly not actual siblings or only siblings, or several things would be even weirder than they are haha but like in that moment specifically those are the Vibes for me)

also by all accounts literally all the times harrow has ever been hugged in her entire life can be counted on one hand. ...okay that's IT everyone get the right souls back into the right bodies this needs to be remedied immdiately gideon I'm counting on you

- I feel there's not enough appreciation for augustine choosing to describe the heralds by going "imagine... the worst bee" (and as we see later -- is he wrong tho??)

- ". . . with hairs as thick as your fingers. Which weren't actually very thick. (Your fingers are fine, I'm just amending.)"

I'm WEEPING how is that so sweet. Gideon has so much affection and respect for Harrow's body and such awareness that, as it were, 'they were not my thumbs to lose'. rather unlike SOME people *stares pointedly at Ianthe Tridentarius who proceeds to not give me a nanosecond's notice in her rise to world domination*

can u believe tamsyn muir wrote a whole book where they never get to meet and in fact don't even recall each other most of the time and still its entire structure is built from how much they love each other and you feel it by the end. multiple times I've read this book!! and it still bowls me over each time

- "How dare you ask me to live with it?"

this is why Harrow is the single most relatable character ever written to me. that is exactly what I would have said to god should he have stood before me at that age. (also and more importantly finally a protagonist who's my height and the same amount of repressed rage by volume lol)

- I live in fear that in one of the upcoming books we will meet someone who did actually care about babs, and then our one remaining reprieve from crushing sadness will be taken from us

- considering that one of the things john mentions as ~*dad things*~ he would do with his kid is to go out and eat chips, and eating chips is exactly what uh who-we-now-know-is-nona in the epilogue is doing... listen I want him to show up in either nona the ninth or alecto the ninth and I want that to be where we get the 'eat hot chip and lie' meme in all its glory, because truly all john gaius knows is make evil expansionist space empire, god complex, gaslight, drink tea, make dad joke, eat hot chip and lie

- john is such an excellent fucking character honestly. he's such a massive piece of shit, but he makes me cackle the whole way about what a massive piece of shit he is. (ten thousand years of lies about to catch up to him and he goes "I hate to be flip, but... am I in trouble? owo". sir you are the WORST and I kind of love you unfortunately. curse my inability to resist anything I find even vaguely amusing. also the cold casual way he admits to having g1deon try to murder harrow... I do also hope someone finishes what augustine started and slam dunks this dude straight into hell as well. y'know it's the duality of man/god thing I've got going on here emotionally)

- gideon's many, many escape attempts take on so much. just so much muchness. after you go back and reread. it's like... does she actually want to escape the ninth and join the cohort (which she does not actually seem to know the first thing about outside of comic books, including who the fuck they're fighting, and starts to be 'hmmmm' about immediately upon meeting the Terrible Teens, who also wanted to go to war), or does she just know that trying to leave is the most reliable way to get harrow's attention, and without harrow's attention... does gideon even exist? yes. both and neither and in the trauma world where you can't see any other ways for the world to be than how it is. (her wish to join the cohort isn't so much about wanting to be there, it's more about it would be not here, not this', which is the best her brain can do with what she's been given to work with. oh gideon.) it especially caught me that the argument when they were ten and eleven that uuuuuuh spiralled out to much bigger things quickly, what harrow reacts so strongly to is the idea that someone would come and take gideon away -- that she'd be left behind, entirely alone in her misery, while someone loved gideon much better than she'd ever know how to. just... their mutual harrowing (aha) attachment trauma making them tear each other to pieces again and again and it wasn't their fault but they left each other bloody and scarred regardless and they only barely got to realize there might be another way before it was ripped away from them. *wails, rends garments, rolls around in ashes and broken glass*

(also the added anguish of how it seems harrow pulled away from gideon as her mental illness got worse, since gideon doesn't seem to know about it at all. it roughly coincides with their huge catastrophic fallout after harrow's parents' suicide, so how would she know, really. and then what a way to find out. so many layers and all of them bring only more sadness. :( )

- somehow I got so quietly sad this time around over the description of god and augustine both just... talking to cytherea's body sometimes. it feels sort of like someone going to a child's grave to speak to them just to... look for them, even if they're gone. and they're both doing it alone and separately which somehow makes the aspect of 'emotionally estranged spouses' in their relationship stand out all the more. (also I realized this time around that part of the reason augustine is so savage towards mercy in his little warning speech (n o t that augustine ever needs a reason to be an asshole to mercy hahaha) is probably that he's actually kind of upset about someone messing with cytherea's corpse and he thinks she's doing it. (making sure their plan didn't come out was the most important thing, but since he also mentions it after the divine threesome, I think it does bother him.) Which means that john claiming not to notice someone messing with her body is either him lying about it (to cover for who-he-thinks-is-g1deon??) or him being… frankly kind of an oblivious idiot. And the thing about this dude is that I would 100% believe either option)

- I wonder what would happen if god ever saw abigail's research. somehow the prospect does not fill me with optimism and rainbows, I'm sure he'd find some way to make it body horror wonderland headed for revenge town yet

#harrow the ninth #the locked tomb #the locked tomb meta #augustine the first #griddlehark #john gaius #I think those are the main points in this lol #this feels borderline incoherent because sadly my brain does not do literary analysis it does Vibe Safari #every time I try to explain my thoughts I am doing so while being chewed on by the local wildlife in here

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silkylious · 3 years

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“I love you. Truly, deeply, eternally.” (Lucifer x Reader)

fandom: obey me! shall we date?

pairing: lucifer x gn reader

warnings: angst, fluff (mildly lol), suggestive (nothing explicit though!), bittersweet, ambiguous ending (??), unedited

wc: 2.1k

“Lucifer?” you called out to him on a whim, eyes trailing the seconds ticking away on his grandfather-clock.

“Yes?” he didn’t spare you a glance as he worked methodically through his second hill of paperwork; a heaping stack of duties assigned to him by Diavolo, endless bills–a consequence of Mammon’s latest spending spree, you ought to talk to him about those soon–and the sort piled neatly on his pristine desk, slowly but surely decreasing in size as Lucifer burned through the tedious task with unwavering efficiency. You felt exhausted just watching him work. Lucifer? He hadn’t so much as blinked more than three times in the past five minutes (yes, you counted). Obsidian sleeves rolled up just past his elbows, hair perfectly framing his face with one strand slightly out of place–hot–and a gentle crease between his brows (the only observable hint alluding to the mounting stress on his shoulders). He looked positively delectable, nothing like someone who’s been working diligently for hours without any breaks. But that just served as a testament to the fundamental difference between the two of you, you supposed.

“I’m in love with you,”

That made his meticulous fingers pause in their tracks.

“Pardon?”

As it turned out, his ears hadn’t, in fact, deceived him. You repeated the confession as if it weighed nothing on your tongue. You were strangely calm given the words you’d just blurted out; he almost didn’t recognize you. An unfamiliar shade of desperation painted all over your face, and yet your voice bared to him a serene conviction, one he’d never heard from you before. Lucifer’s heartbeat stumbled in your wake.

Basking in your courageous display just a second longer, he sighed. Too bad he’d have to mutilate such a pretty sight so soon.

That didn’t go exactly as he’d planned. The harsh rejection barely deterred you, leaving only a petulant pout on your lips and a promise that you’d come talk to him later.

Lucifer was anything but stupid. He knew that he let things stray too far between you, knew it was his fault for not pulling away from your kisses and instead indulging you (and himself) to the fullest. His fault for ignoring the guilt that settled deep in his gut like hunks of steel when you looked at him like he’d never experienced before. Lucifer had lived for many millennia, had relished the warmth of countless passionate lovers and faceless hookups, none of which had ever set him alight from the inside out like your adoring gaze had. It terrified him how after all these years, watching humans thrive and collapse over and over again, he thought he’d seen everything there is to see, all that humans had to offer. And then you come along, reinventing what love meant right before his eyes, with a simple look no less.

He never intended for you to fall in love with him, and he never intended to reciprocate. Had he been mortal, maybe things wouldn’t be so complicated. But life dealt a cruel hand, and he wasn’t. A relationship like yours was doomed to crumble in heartache from the start, it was best to stop it before things went too far. That was the plan anyway.

You didn’t share the same sentiment.

With one last exasperated sigh, Lucifer focused his attention back on his duties. He didn’t know how long he could hold up against your persistence, and honestly he preferred not to dwell on it. Whatever outcome lied for the both of you in the near future, itching one step closer with each tick on the clock, he’d face it head on when it was time.

Meanwhile, you laid wide awake, in your bed, rethinking every decision that led you here. You didn’t regret your confession, nor were you keen on giving up, but Lucifer’s ruthless rejection, his vehement claim that a relationship between a human and a demon is destined to end in tragedy festered a bud of doubt in you. You noted pettily that he hadn’t outright denied any feelings for you. How could he? Lucifer was many, ugly things but a liar’s not one of them; you wouldn’t believe him even if he did lie, not with how delicately he holds your hand in his gloved one, not with how heartbreakingly beautiful he was when he lets you in at his lowest, stripped completely of his pride.

You knew though, that as much as Lucifer was a creature of the past, he was a creature of regrets.

Somehow, you’d managed to reach the heart of the Avatar of Pride himself, bestowing a porcelain touch on it and subsequently rocking the monotony of his endless life. Despite the acknowledgment of both your feelings, you weren’t naïve enough to dismiss how his heart drums thousands of years apart from yours and would continue to do so long after yours gave its last valiant pump.

He was a creature of the past you realized; humans intently watch minutes, hours, years approach because there’s only so much of them live out, there’s only so much to do in a lifetime. Naturally it would be counterintuitive to waste scarce time on the past. The immortal have no such concern. When time is limitless, and life is all but a blur of recycled events, its only instinctive to lose interest in what’s to come. And you guessed, maybe there was a strange comfort in the predictability of eternity, maybe that’s why Lucifer was so offput by the notion of something serious yet temporary, especially romance.

You decided. You wouldn’t let him look back and ponder what ifs in that stubborn head of his, not while you were still breathing. With regained determination, you glanced one last time at your countertop alarm and entered a dreamless slumber.

Not even two days later, three consecutive raps on his door made Lucifer rub at his temples for the nth time and begrudgingly called for you to enter. Piled on his desk were several stacks of papers (as was the usual), though, that night he was in a particularly sour mood. Ever since your confession, he’d been feeling uneasy, Diavolo hurling more work at him last minute was only pushing him to his wit’s end.

“Lucifer,” he hummed in response, not bothering to conceal his growing agitation. “we need to talk,”

Ah, there it was. He was wondering when you’d confront him again.

“I believe I made myself quite clear last time,” he sighed, dropping his pen and finally meeting your eyes. “If this is about your feelings again then I’m sorry but I can’t–”

“But why? Can you really say that what we have isn’t special at all?” your lower lip quivered just a bit and Lucifer had to fight the immediate reflex of holding you close and hushing your worries. His impassiveness quickly arose frustration out of you. “God Damnit, Lucifer! All I want is to be with you while I still can! To die with no regrets, knowing you’ll be there with me, but it’s very fucking hard to do that when you’re too scared of the future to do something about–about us!”

It was a low blow to go after his pride, you knew that, but he wasn’t giving you much to work with.. Rubbing salt in a ghastly wound had certainly done the trick, the dimmed crimson that pooled just below his pupil began to shine scarlet. You would have found it gorgeous had it not been imbued with near murderous intent. Lucifer’s poker face was rapidly breaking, a horrid mix of anger and melancholy sat heavy in his throat. He was looking straight at you, but his eyes were somewhere else, some time else. He was staring hundreds of years behind you at an unhealed, poorly bandaged cut. An everlasting guilt he carried with him everywhere.

“What would you know about regret?” he breathed out the words like they’re bullets, whatever restraint he’d managed to scarp together deteriorating. He stepped closer, each stride bigger than the last as he closed the distance between you, a perfect diamond manifesting on his forehead and you could see the beginnings of black feathers sprouting from his back. “Do you have the slightest clue what a blessing mortality is? Do you have any idea how agonizing it is to live with your regrets and not be able to die with them?”

“You’re right. I don’t,” you stood your ground. “But, do you really want to live with one more regret to bear?”

He kissed you. He kissed you like he hated you, animosity and anger and pain and, most prominently, pining spilling from his lips. Lucifer parted from you just as quickly as he’d initiated the kiss, taking the time to let his irritation bleed out of him, until he was left grappling with (frankly terrifying) longing and adoration. Just this once, he’d take a leap of faith, he’d break his own rigorous code and take the risk of undying heartache in the future to be with you in the now.

One kiss turned into many, and soon you found yourselves stumbling your way from his office to his bedroom. He couldn’t get enough of you, the thought that some day he would be deprived of you broke him and made him yearn to cherish you just as much. Precious things aren’t meant for longevity, he learned. All the more reason to treasure them when given the chance. You were pushed onto his bed and not once did his hands and mouth and breath leave your skin; he couldn’t bear sever that connection.

Before long, your hands were pined to the mattress, fingers tightly laced with his as if he was petrified the moment will break and a thousand years would pass you by the instant he let go.

“I love you. Truly and deeply.”

Neither of you heard the clock strike midnight.

Lucifer was well-acquainted with sleepless nights. He was no stranger to the prick at the corner of his eye, excruciatingly familiar with midnight’s cold, lonely touch. But this one was different. Where usually lied a cool emptiness in his sheets, your warm, inviting body was just in reach. Where the corners of his mind were usually plagued by past mistakes and sorrowful repentance, you were all he could think about. He reflected on your words now that the high of emotions had worn off. He still disagreed with you on many things and, if he was being true to himself, it would take more than one night to abandon his reluctance, much more. But he was willing to put in his fair share of effort. He was willing to do many things for you, he mused. You were right about one thing though, regardless of whether or not he acted on his feelings, your parting would hurt all the same. Part of him was still resentful that he let himself fall so deeply in love with you, and a part of him knew it couldn’t be helped. You’d carved a home for yourself out of his heart, invited yourself in and declared pompously you’d be there to stay, and he’d be damned to hell all over again if he said he didn’t like that.

Pulling you closer to leech off your warmth, for the first time in forever, he dreamt of the future, a future with you.

Snapping out his reverie, Lucifer refocused his vision on the framed picture before him. It’s been a couple dozen years, the pain dulled into a hollow longing, and yet not a single regret weighed on his back. He was astonished, how you, who had lived but a fraction of his own lifetime, had such impeccable foresight. He lays in bed every night and morning thanking you for not giving up, knowing that if you had, he’d be spending the rest of his infinite days in self-loathing regret.

All Lucifer could ask for now is a little guidance. What was he to do now? Was he even capable of falling in love again after you? Would he allow it? All questions that began frequenting his head since you’re no longer there to occupy it. He only knew is that he’d love you, and love you, and love you until this world fell apart. He toyed with the idea of reincarnation. It certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility; he saw you in everything he did. Strange how you’d taught him more about appreciating every day’s mundanities than he had in the many eons he’s been alive. Lucifer wonders about the possibility of you donning the same white wings he once had back in the Celestial Realm. If you ever did, he wonders about the complications that would arise from that, he wonders if you’d even remember him. All Lucifer was left with was a simple truth. If you ever came back, whichever form you may take, he’d welcome you back into the adobe of his heart without a second thought.

He ran his thumb over your smile, a bittersweet acceptance in his own.

“I love you. Truly, deeply, eternally.”

Obey me! taglist: @katsucookie @strwbry-m1lk (you wanted to be tagged in this one lol) join my taglist here! <3

#obey me x reader #obey me lucifer x reader #obey me lucifer x y/n #obey me lucifer x mc #lucifer x reader #lucifer x y/n #lucifer x mc #obey me lucifer #obey me #obey me shall we date #lucifer angst

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nanaminokanojo · 3 years

Text

Play the Game | Nanami Kento X You | Part 8/8 [COMPLETED]

collection masterlist

one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight (final)

"Play the Game" Masterlist

You stood by the door, watching the chaos in your brother’s bedroom as he prepared for his wedding at sunset, waiting for everyone to leave so you can finally speak to him in private. He was, after all, the only one in the family you cared for enough to inform him of your decisions.

People always say you and Gojo were similar. However, those very things that made you alike also set you apart. Besides the platinum white hair and remarkable blue eyes you shared – unique even within the clan – being the absolute obvious, the similarities stopped there.

You siblings were supposed to be akin to one another, but the same things they loved about your brother were the same things people abhorred about you. You and your brother were both prodigies. He was richer than the whole clan, all assets combined being the successful businessman he was ever since he was in his teens. It was as freakish as it was awe-inspiring. You were an artist of great renown with your multi-million dollar pieces and the youngest to have been dubbed as a national artist when you were the same age as him.

But where he basked in fame and acclaim, your prominence was fueled by infamy. Gojo built an empire that served as one of the pillars of the local economy. You produced artistic pieces that inspired execration and controversy. Undeniably brilliant, yes, but absolutely contentious.

Your brother was kind. In fact, he was the best older brother one could ever ask for, and that was not lip service nor was it because of your biases towards him. You can never discount how caring he is to you, how hard he tries to make you happy and how he would go through lengths as to be the idiot just to satisfy your whims. He was just genuinely good-natured although he appeared somewhat insouciant. He had his evil streak, too, which is established in the clan, but his goodness radiated like a light that followed him wherever he went.

However, you have long accepted that your side which reflected Gojo in every way when you were younger had long died. Altruism wasn’t one of your strongest suits and you were only ever affectionate to people you had deep, deep fondness for. And that wasn’t even something common. Even your parents had always been the receiving end of your lackadaisical attitude.

He attracted people, you repelled them. Being surrounded by the good people he called friends was a testament to that no matter how vexing his personality was, and more people want to be near him. Apart from your three friends, you didn't make any more and your school life sucked because majority of your classmates hated you. For what, you didn't know. You don’t think you will ever understand.

It was your seven-year gap that made all the difference, you liked to think. It was much easier to swallow than the concept of the whole cosmos conspiring to create two creatures to be equals but of the opposite nature. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be that way, but you will always be the one looking up to him regardless if you did not choose the same path as his; regardless of whether there were no comparisons with what either of you endeavored to do.

And above everything else, you loved Satoru very much.

“Got a minute?” You began, standing before him in front of the mirror. It was rather annoying watching him struggle with the cufflinks, and you didn’t think he would manage to fix the bowtie still hanging loosely on his neck. Thus, you thought of taking charge. “Give it here.”

Gojo was surprised, but he was nonetheless happy. He wore his heart on his sleeve after all, and you could only guess it was that vulnerability he risked showing that attracted people to him. You have only learned the intricacies of such a matter recently, something you had to agree with since it all made perfect sense.

“Thank you,” he said, tilting his head to the side, watching you work on his cuffs.

“You’re really getting married, huh?” you began, feeling yourself start to falter, but you have decided. You may not have gotten him the best wedding gift materially speaking, but you swore to let him in on what was going on with you, to be honest with him like you hadn’t been for the longest time. “Who would have known?”

“Am I finally getting that emotional pre-wedding sibling talk?” he asked, walking towards the seats by the window and looking out into the garden.

“You’re getting married, not being sent away to prison. I don’t even understand why this happens during weddings,” you quipped, sighing. “But I guess you could call it that.”

He smiled at you, patting the space beside him. You did as you were told, assuming the spot, but also looking out the window, watching as the organizers made finishing touches to the garden below. No expense was spared to make the occasion as perfect as it could get. You couldn’t argue with it. Gojo deserved the best, and to him, Utahime did, too.

“I’m waiting,” he said, breaking the silence that had befallen the room. “You’ve been pacing before the door for god knows how long when you should have been getting ready.”

“I got ready much faster than you did.”

“And you look beautiful.” He tilted his head to the side, eyeing you appreciatively. “Sometimes, I can’t believe you’re all grown up. And what a beautiful woman you’ve become.”

You smirked. “You’re looking at your mirror image after all.”

“Well, there’s that, of course.” He laughed slightly. “But I’m not just saying that because we’re basically the same person. You really are beautiful, baby sis.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind your ear, opting for it instead of his usual choice of mussing your hair since it has already been styled for the wedding.

You just shook your head. “Thank you, Satoru.”

“So, what did you want to talk about exactly?”

“The other day…” Your voice trailed off, thinking about what to say. It wasn’t that way before between you and your brother. He was always the easiest person to talk to, always open minded and optimistic about matters. But now that you were going to discuss something that he had vocally opposed, you were a bit scared of saying anything. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t do Nanami justice if you decided to hold back now, considering that he was more than ready to speak to your brother.

You’ve both initially decided to sit Gojo down and tell him about your decisions together, but you informed Nanami earlier in the day that you needed to have a proper conversation with him first. It wasn’t just your choice to be with Nanami that was the matter, and you wanted to get things straightened out with Gojo before he gets married.

“Yes?” he prompted.

“You said I don’t talk enough to you; that I don’t tell you things anymore.”

Gojo slowly nodded.

You breathed out. “Things changed. We can’t deny that. I grew up and you…well, you’ve decided you want to spend your life with Iori and build your own family.” Your lips curled up awkwardly as you tried to keep your emotions at bay. It was new territory having such talks with him when you’re used to your easy-going dynamic with him. “I’m scared, too. I mean, I can’t just bother you anytime anymore cause you’ll have your wife and eventually children to pay attention to and prioritize.”

He was taken aback by what you said, immediately drawing closer. “What are you saying, Y/N? You’re my sister. Nothing will change –”

“Our bond will not change, dude, but you have to admit that what I’m saying is true.” You took his hand in yours, squeezing it gently. You beamed at the fact that your fingers were structured in the same tapered manner as his. Even the shape of your fingernails were the same, just that his hands were bigger than your delicate ones. “What I’m saying is that even if you need to do that, I will be fine.”

“Of course, you will be. You’re my sister, and above that, you are your own person, and you’re stronger than you think. You’ve been handling things on your own for as long as I can remember.” He pouted, trying to act cute with you. “It’s disappointing, to be honest, because you’ve never really given me the chance to play my role in your life because you’re always the mature one.”

You were confused now. “What are you on about? You’re my only brother, but I can’t imagine anyone else holding that position in my life. You’re the best I could have asked for. I’ve always looked up to you. You’re my role model.”

“I am?”

“Yeah. The fuck are you so surprised for?” You snickered. “That aside, if you felt like I’ve been leaving you out, that’s not the intention at all. I always want you to be the first one to know what’s going on with my life…”

He clucked his tongue. “I understand you’re not doing it on purpose, kid. I’m just worried that you didn’t think I’m worth telling anything because, well, I’m not exactly a proper adult, am I?”

“You’re realizing that now that you’re about to get married?” you taunted him, jabbing your thumb towards the direction of the garden. “Should I tell Iori to call this whole thing off?”

He waved you aside. “Hey, don’t say that!”

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Anyway, there’s something I wanted to tell you for a while now.”

“How long is a while, exactly?”

“Years and years.” You flashed him a rueful smile. “I just couldn’t figure out how to tell you because I am not exactly sure how you feel about it although you’ve told me many times you were opposed to it. What I’m saying it that, I know that fact, but it’s the motivation behind it that is beyond my knowledge.”

Gojo’s eyes rounded, realizing what you were saying. “Are you…”

You nodded. “Yes, I am talking about Kento.”

He just blinked and stood up, pacing around in front of you for a while that you had to stop him from doing it. He had such a bad habit of doing that when he is in deep thought, and always in front of you, too. He was making you dizzy.

You seized him by the wrist. “Please say something.”

“I…”

“Why are you opposed to it?”

He stopped pacing and faced you, taking you by the shoulders, his eyes starting to water. “Y/N…”

“Oh no, are you gonna cry?”

He furiously blinked his tears back, the action almost comical if it weren’t for the serious look on his face. “Because you are my little sister. You think it will be easy for me to just hand you over to anyone? My friends aren’t exceptions to that although I trust them with everything that I have. I will always, always worry about you when it comes to that matter because I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want you to be taken advantage of, and I don’t want to have to break either Suguru or Kento’s bones when the time comes.”

“I can manage the latter on my own.” You sighed, finding your resolve strengthening. “But like you said, I’m this old now. I want you to understand that I know what I am doing and I am confident about my decisions. Honestly, I didn’t want to talk about this as if I am asking for your permission. This is what I meant when I said I will be fine. I am not saying you don’t have a say in my life, but I am telling you this time because I want you to know before anyone else does.”

“Suguru doesn’t know?” he asked, eyes sparkling.

“Don’t be petty. I tell him things I can’t tell you just like you tell him things you can’t tell me,” but you nodded anyway. “He doesn’t know yet…I think.”

“So…you and Kento…”

You nodded again. “I’m in love with him, Satoru. And he feels the same way.”

“You are?” His expressions softened, hugging you to him. “You’ve grown. Really grown.”

You returned the gesture, holding onto him tight. “Please don’t ever think that I am leaving you out of my life because I always want to tell you everything.”

Just then, he pulled back, his brows furrowing while his eyes narrowed at you. “So, why isn’t he the one telling me this? Where is that bastard?”

You shrugged. “He wants to be here. Trust me. I just asked him if I could talk to you first because I have issues to resolve with you apart from my relationship with him.”

Gojo exhaled, nodding in understanding. “I understand, Y/N. But are you certain?”

“Yes. I’m scared of hurting him, but I’ll do my best, I guess.”

“Hmm, yeah. Maybe you should tone down on your mischief, too. I don’t want him dying of stress because of you. He’s still precious to me.”

At that, you laughed. “I know.”

He poked you on the cheek. “Alright then. If that’s what makes you happy, I won’t stand in your way. You have my blessing.” His teeth clenched then. “But I’m still going to have to talk to him man to man in case he thinks he’s off the hook.”

“Worry about your wedding first,” you jibed.

“I almost forgot about that.”

“I’m telling Iori.”

He shook his head, feigning panic. “Don’t.”

You both ended up laughing, joking about the guests who were arriving at the garden, poking fun at the relatives you both detested but had no choice but to invite. Just like that, you were back to how it used to be, easily conversing and sharing the same sentiments about things and same penchant for devilry.

Soon, the organizer came to his room, informing him that he needed to go to the garden to prepare. You reached up and fixed his tie and jacket for him, holding him at arm’s length to appreciate your handiwork. “You’re all set.”

“Thank you.” He smiled wide but you saw the nervousness in his eyes. “I’m getting married!”

“You are.”

“I’m more anxious about seeing Kento after what you told me,” he stated dramatically.

You eyed him witheringly. “Shut up and pull yourself together.”

He snickered then. “Kidding. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

The two of you walk to the garden, your arm around his. He stood at the spot just by the last row of seats with you, grinning at you when he saw you looking at Nanami who was already dutifully standing on his spot, speaking to Geto.

“Concentrate on your vows, yeah?” you told your brother.

“I’m off.”

“In case we don’t get to talk before you leave for your honeymoon,” you began, “Just know that I am waiting for the speedy arrival of my nieces and nephews.”

Gojo laughed at that, but nodded anyway and said, “I’ll do a good job, I promise.”

“And Satoru?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you.”

“I know, kid. I know.” He turned on his heels and walked towards his place at the front pews while you watched, his steps leading you towards the very man you would want to see standing there when the time comes, his halo of golden locks bright under the setting sun but you knew your future with him would be even more brilliant.

The familiar bars of Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon” began to play in a modified, slowed-down wedding version made especially for Gojo and Utahime’s wedding, played on the harp, piano and violin, cueing the beginning to the entrance of the bridal entourage. It began with the entrance of the flower girls who scattered petals of different flowers on the white carpet that lined the long aisle.

Arches and bouquets of flowers festooned the garden, with gossamer cloth hanging about, interlaced with live wisteria that hung down from the canopy along with fairy lights that progressively turned on as the sky grew darker. White and pink dominated the color palette as Utahime had wished and the same goes for the reception area. It was probably one of the most beautiful wedding setups Nanami has ever seen.

But his eyes weren’t on the ornaments. They were trained on the end of the walled garden, waiting for your ascent on the marble steps where the white carpet extended, the march made more dramatic by the organizers by opting for a meandering aisle instead of the traditional, straight walkway for the bride. And it did achieve the desired effect when you finally emerged from the steps and into view.

He couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips upon finally seeing you clad in that familiar faded rose gown he had first seen being fitted on you to perfection. He kissed you while you wore that very article of clothing not long ago at the couturier’s shop, and though he thought back then that he has never seen anything more beautiful, he was amazed at the fact that you looked even more gorgeous in it as you glided towards the front.

He loved you so much it hurts, and although you’ve both professed your deep affections for one another and decided to take things head on together, he still felt like he was in the middle of a dream he didn’t want to wake up from. You came closer, and once more, he was back at the semi-outdoor ballroom the first day he came that week, beholding the goddess that was you but seemingly in a different light – brighter this time, overwhelming him to the point that he had to remind himself how to breathe when you finally looked his way and beamed unabashedly, your affections towards him unmasked, real and not under the guise of a game.

“Kento,” he heard Gojo say softly just then, the man’s blue eyes furtively glancing at him.

“Yes?” he answered in hushed tones.

“Hurt my baby sister and I’ll have your severed head hung by the gates of the estate,” he said. “Are we clear about that?”

Geto snickered, concealing it by facing the other way.

“Understood,” Nanami said seriously. “I’m counting on it.”

When you were near enough, you smiled at your brother and Geto before turning your attention to Nanami. You winked at him as you passed by before turning towards your spot opposite them across the aisle, your attention trained towards the point where you came from.

He couldn’t stop looking at you, not even when he felt Gojo hold onto his arm, squeezing tight as Utahime came into view. He didn’t mean to be insulting to his friends. She was beautiful in her wedding gown and he couldn’t help but be moved by the loving look that your brother had on his face as he watched his wife-to-be come closer, guided by her father who will give her away as the sun set. It was poetic. A new beginning after a beautiful end. He probably looked the same whenever his eyes would find you.

The ceremony carried on as everyone sat down, waiting for the couple to exchange their ‘I do’s.’ their vows, rings and the much-awaited kiss. It was making him emotional, thinking of the time when he himself would draw your veil and get to claim you as his for life in front of everyone you both loved and cared about. He couldn’t wait for it, and he may be getting ahead of himself, but he wanted what Gojo and Utahime had with you.

As the minister announced the pair man and wife, everyone applauded and cheered for them. He did so, too, chuckling when Geto whistled loudly, being his cheeky self. Just then, he nudged Nanami on the side, grinning impudently.

“Is it safe to assume you’re next?” he queried in the same manner.

Nanami rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Who knows? Someone might actually steal your heart in the next months and we’ll be seeing you crying as you watch your bride walk towards you by next year.”

Geto snickered at that. “Yeah, right. You looked like you wanted to jump Y/N and replace Satoru and Iori at the altar all this time.”

“Who wants to replace my brother and sister-in-law at the altar?” they heard you say, appearing out of nowhere, your head tilted to the side as you shifted your blue orbs between the two males, but before either of them could answer, you linked your arm with Nanami who smiled down at you blissfully. You returned the gesture, your cheeks blushing prettily under the twinkling lights overhead.

“I see you’ve figured things out.” Geto smirked, patting Nanami on the back just as Shoko came into view, taking the former by the arm, claiming she needed a smoke. She pulled him away, leaving you and Nanami to yourselves, winking as they walked away.

“So, you told him?” you asked, cocking your head towards the wide lawn where the pergolas were, built on three sides of the square and closed by an elevated area for the band, all surrounding a dance floor under a huge, white tent above, also adorned with thousands of lights. It was your design, solely for the wedding reception and a form of gift to the newlyweds.

“Satoru did indirectly when he said he’ll have my head hung at the gates of Gojo Manor if I hurt you.” He shook his head, laughing slightly. “Bastard had the gall to laugh at me, too.”

“He nearly cried when I told him earlier,” you said, regaling him with how your conversation with Gojo went. “He trusts you and is actually afraid I’ll hurt you, too.”

He shook his head. “It’s all part of the process, isn’t it?”

“Mhmm.”

“We’ll take it head on.” He held your hand, twining your fingers together.

You nodded, squeezing his larger hand. “We will.”

Just then, your friends emerged from the reception area with Noabara taking the lead, mischief drawn all over her face as she approached you. “I took care of the sitting arrangement,” she said to you then turned to Nanami. “Take care of Y/N. Make her cry and –”

“You’ll have my head?” Nanami supplemented but Nobara shook her head. “I’ll tan your hide. Satoru gets your head apparently.”

At that, Nanami laughed, nodding nonetheless. But to your surprise, she also turned her attention to you, holding you by the shoulders. “Are you still playing?”

“Nope.” You pressed your lips together, shaking your head slowly.

She smiled then. “Good.” She glanced at Nanami. “You’ve got you a good one here.”

“I know.”

They left you alone after that much to his relief, but then you said, “Wanna play a game?”

His eyes rounded and he felt tension again once he heard you say those familiar words, always the preamble to every single mischievous stunt you’ve ever pulled on everyone including him. He paused and looked at you. “I thought no more games?”

You smirked at him. “One more won’t hurt.”

He sighed, giving in. “You’re going to be the death of me, I swear to god.”

“So, are you in?”

“When did I ever say no to you?”

You giggled. “Great.”

“What is it about this time?” he asked, indulging you.

“Whoever gets a rise out of Satoru first wins.”

“The stakes?”

You just winked suggestively at him.

You forfeited. For the first time, you lost in your own game. It counted – albeit momentary – because you initiated the game…said the very words that began everything that paved the way to the result you’ve always wanted. But you did not really consider it a loss when for the long run, you’ve gained the very person you’d always gladly lose to at any given time.

After you father offered a toast for the newlyweds, the speeches began, starting with Utahime’s parents then yours, eventually moving on to you, then the bride and groom’s shared close friends. Geto had been rather irreverent as usual, pointing out the things that both Gojo and Utahime supposedly disliked from one another yet brought them closer, making everyone laugh when Shoko came up the stage and began her speech, saying, “Opposites do attract.”

You sat on your table with Nanami, both of you waiting for your turns. He was next in line after Shoko, smirking at you as he stood up and walked towards the platform and began his piece by congratulating Gojo, “for landing a very gracious woman who has the most enduring patience I have ever known in all mankind, given the grief that Ieiri, Suguru and I had to endure before Iori came to his life.”

He continued on with his witty address, pretty much reflecting what Suguru said and entertaining the crowd enough when he started to express his gratitude. “While I know that this changes nothing between us as the best of friends – including your nature that tested one’s forbearance – I would like to say thank you for many things. Thank you because you are, well, you…” He did a dramatic eye roll.

The guests laughed.

“Thank you because you are a real person who offered friendship to quiet, boring old me,” he said, droning on about the things he appreciated about the couple before saying the things he was thankful to Gojo about. “And thank you, because without you, without our friendship, I wouldn’t have met the very person I also want to walk this earth with for the rest of my life.”

You would have fallen off your seat when Megumi playfully nudged you if it weren’t for Yuuji who also held onto your shoulders from behind your seat, shaking you excitedly.

“If it weren’t for one Gojo Satoru, I wouldn’t have met Y/N.”

You felt all eyes turn towards you, including your parents and your brother, heat suffusing your cheeks as you tried hard to keep yourself from smiling like an idiot for everyone to see. Nanami has outdone you this time, and you knew you didn’t have a chance to go against that when he had so publicly expressed how he felt about you.

“I love her with everything that I am,” he continued, “and I will continue to do so even without your threat to behead me.” He raised his glass. “To Iori and Satoru. May you have the happiest, most prosperous married life from today and for always.”

Geto whistled loudly while the guests applauded. You also stood up, clapping your hands slowly as you shook your head. You’ve lost big time, backed by the fact that your brother stood up raising his glass as he said, “I couldn’t have wished for a better future brother-in-law.” He then looked at you, smiling fondly.

Nanami got Gojo to state his approval for everyone to hear. You can’t win against that even if you nearly made the latter cry.

And now, you were just happy to be in Nanami’s arms as he swayed you both to the tune the jazz band was playing, your arms hanging around his shoulders and your fingers playing with the hair at the base of his head while he held you against him by the waist.

“So?” Nanami began. “How’s that for a final game?”

“Not bad,” you acceded, smirking at him. “I’ll admit defeat.”

“Damn right, you are.” He smiled down at you, his dark eyes reflecting the muted, xanthic lights that surrounded you. “I have a couple of things I’d want you to do for me, by the way.”

You nodded slowly, keeping a straight face at the mention of his prize. “Rules are rules.”

His brows furrowed slightly. “Then again, you haven’t told me what you wanted when you won a week ago.”

You grinned, burying your face on his chest, listening to the faint sound of his heart. “But I did get what I want.”

“And that is?”

You met his gaze from under your lashes. “You,” you stated in full confidence.

Nanami nodded, suppressing a smile. “If you say so.”

“I wouldn’t wish for anything else.” You pulled him towards you so you could peck him on the mouth. “Thank you.”

“I don’t know what for, but as always, anything for you.”

You chuckled at that. Knowing him, he’ll make good on his words for sure, so much so that you didn’t feel the least bit of worry where your future with him was concerned. “You have to learn how to say no to me.”

“I guess, but since I won, have I finally made it to the list of people you don’t mess with?” he asked.

“As promised, yes.”

“No more games?”

“No more games,” you repeated. “Although I have to say it keeps things interesting between us. Don’t you think so?”

You both dissolved in laughter, the merry mingling of your voices coming to a standstill when he bent down and cupped your cheeks, running his thumb over your cheek before staking his claim on your lips while you returned the gesture in kind, locked in each other’s arms, glad you both played the game. And won.

-THE END-

I would like to say thank you to everyone who read this and kept up with my erratic updating. It's been a good 6 weeks. Thanks!

*I used “you” here, but since my character is Gojo’s little sister who is established to be his female clone for reasons essential to the plot, she possesses the same blue eyes and white hair. I did not exactly want to create an OC (although technically, I did by describing Y/N), but I opted for the best of both worlds in this fic, leaning more towards the literary aspect of it as opposed to it just being reader/you-oriented. I hope this isn’t iffy to anyone, and yeah, i’m not being exclusive or whatever.

Thank you so much for reading. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated! Hope you enjoyed it.

PHOTO/IMAGE/GIF/FANART CREDITS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

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know-the-way · 3 years

Text

As a continuation to this post, a few more Spellwood canon moments that just butter my angst-lovin’ biscuit below.

1. “And you shall have it, I promise you.”

There is so much subtext in this exchange (imo) that it’s stupid. Zelda goes to Faustus’ office with the obvious intent of seducing him out of prosecuting her niece, and that little look in the top gif is not only a clear offer, it’s a challenge. One Zelda is used to issuing to lesser opponents and effectively calling their bluffs, but Faustus has known her for centuries and he isn’t as oblivious as she wants to believe he is. When he immediately calls her on it and challenges her back with a sly comment about her aging and sliding his hand in her hair to give her forehead a smooch - she’s taken aback. Like “oh fuck, I setup up this little game in my favor, but I forgot he taught me how knows how to play, stay cool stay cool fuck.”

And I remember watching this scene for the first time thinking “yeah, they’re probably gonna fuck at some point” but also getting the absolute knawing feeling that they had a history to accompany it. Which we find out later that they did. I take that as testament to Richard and Miranda’s acting because it was a very brief exchange and that hint of their past was subtle, but it was there. (Or maybe it’s just me idk.)

2. “You look a delight, sister.”

Listen. I have most definitely talked about this scene many times before, but this particular moment? Bruh, it does me IN.

The way she lets her fingers glide across her necklace, like she’s tracing over his touch, savoring the memory of it and blissfully getting lost in it. That dreamy, satisfied look on her face… and that little smile when she remembers something particularly indulgent from the night before. God. Fuck me up. Like Faustus may be good for very little, but at least there is One Thing that we can infer he does very well.

3. This shit right here. How dare they. How dare they start it out messy and hungry and wild to then bE THAT. FUCKING. SOFT.

At this point in the series, we weren’t given any actual confirmation of them having a history together. Like you could make an educated guess based on their interactions that something was there, but no one had actually said it yet. But this shit? Gently holding your lover’s face and staring at her adoringly while your thumb strokes her cheek before leaning in to reclaim her lips? Biiiiitch. And then Zelda gently hooking her hand over his forearm… the tenderness of it, the familiarity? Fuck outta here.

That split second of an interaction is what hooked me in. Because I knew, I just fucking knew they’d done this before - many times - and I needed to hear all about it damn’t. I’m still waiting to hear about it fully, but the bits we’ve gotten since this scene? Ticks every “tragic one that got away ex because we were young and dumb and didn’t know how to say I love you” box on my list of fascinatingly destructive ship requirements.

Messy idiots. The both of them. I love them so much.

(I can keep going, of course, but y’all let me know if you want me to continue. Hope you’re all doing well, lots of love and hugs. xx 🥰)

P.S. All of these gifs are saved on my phone, so I’m not sure who the creators are (sorry :/) except @edravenswood for the top one, but if any of these are yours, please let me know and I will be sure to credit you!

#zelda spellman #faustus blackwood #caos #spellwood

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aressss1 · 4 years

Text

Through Fire and Ice Chapter 6

(Technoblade x Reader)

Chapter 6

~~~~~~

Phil was the first to wake up of the two in the back of the caravan. He slowly sat up using his good arm to push himself up. His eyes scanned over Techno. Techno’s face was peaceful as he slept. He was surprised that the half piglin had decided to sleep in the presence of the other two. Not that the other two were in the caravan with them but, that really was a testament that Techno was exhausted.

The caravan wasn’t moving anymore, and it was silent outside. Deciding to take a peek, Phil pulled back the fabric of the caravan, letting the harsh wind chill in for a moment, which he came to regret. Techno stirred at that. They were at their village. George and Sapnap nowhere in sight, they had taken the horses as well.

“Mate, I think they just left us out here.” Phil said to Techno who was rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Not surprising.” Techno stretched his arms causing his joints to pop. Phil lets out a small hum, as he looked at the height of the snow on the roofs of the houses. There had to be at least two feet of snow, and it still was coming. The large flakes were still falling fast to the earth, with no end in sight. A thought had occurred to him and he let out a groan as he sat back on the wood of the caravan, causing Techno to look over at him curiously. “Uhh, you okay there?”

“The library,” Phil lamented, this caused Techno’s eyebrow to raise. Phil’s hand covered his face.

“You… Wanna go to our local library?” Techno questioned, his arms crossing over his chest for heat. “Phil… I gotta be honest here, I don’t have a library card.”

“No, the books in the stronghold library,” Phil clarified, his hand sliding down his face. “They might hold the key to stopping this.” Phil let out another pained groan. “Why didn’t I think about those books?”

“What books?” Ranboo popped his head into the caravan, scaring Philza and nearly making him topple over. Phil winced from the action and cradled his broken arm. “Whoa,” Ranboo eyed Phil’s arm. “Sorry Phil…” He apologized bowing his head.

“It’s alright mate.” Phil said gritting through the pain. “And to answer your question, I left the library in the stronghold untouched, whatever books are in there might be important. I was going to come back for them.” Phil said after the pain had started to subside.

“So… Let’s go get them?” Ranboo offered.

“You want to help me get the books from the library Ranboo?” Phil asked the enderling, the question making Ranboo light up as he nodded.

“Okay I get the fact that you want to go back to the library, but you need to heal your arm before anythin’.” Techno motioned at Phil’s arm. “It doesn’t make sense to go when you’re already at a disadvantage.”

“You’re going to have to wait a while Phil.” Ranboo spoke up. “The doctor, has been denying patients left and right.” Techno’s eyes snapped up to Ranboo’s eyes, the action making Ranboo uncomfortable and a small enderman noise could be heard, as he kept his eyes anywhere but Techno. Techno didn’t care.

“What do you mean?” Techno’s tone was serious. “How long has that been going on?” His brows furrow, as Ranboo hesitates.

“U-uh…” Ranboo’s voice wavered as he tried processing what he was going to say next. “There isn’t enough supplies to go around. People are dying because of the lack of health potions. We have already exhausted our bone meal for the melons.” Techno felt his eyes widen and he started to go through his chests that he had brought with him.

“You haven’t seen Dream?” He asked still sifting through his items.

“Last I saw him…” Ranboo paused. “I-uh… I can’t actually remember?” Ranboo said sheepishly. Techno sighed not finding any melons. He hung his head and stood up from his chests. His eye landing on the ender chest off to the side. ‘If I need to… I will.’ Techno thought to himself. Techno opened the ender chest, and he pulled out the only one of its kind he had ever found. An enchanted golden apple.

“Mate?” Phil eyed Techno warily.

“If nothing else will help her, this will Phil.” Techno gripped the shimmering golden apple in his hand.

“Those are pretty rare.” Phil cocked his head at Techno, a smirk coming to his lips. “You sure you want to just give it up like that?”

“…” Techno quickly hid the apple from sight, his eyes leveling with Phil. He didn’t even have an excuse. “What do you want me to say, Phil?” He bent and grabbed a red cloak from one of the chests and wrapped it around his shoulders. He liked the blue one better, but the red cloak made him come back to his roots.

“You don’t have to say anything mate.” He couldn’t hide the amusement from his voice. Ranboo spoke up shifting the topic back to what it was before. Techno couldn’t help but be appreciative of that.

“So, Phil, when did you want to go to that library?” Ranboo asked, making Phil hum in response.

“You see how deep that snow is?” Phil pointed to the rooftops he was looking at earlier. “We need to go soon,” Phil looked down at his arm. “I don’t think we have time to wait.”

“You wrote down the coordinates right Phil?” Ranboo asked. When Phil nodded, “Let’s just mine our way to the stronghold. Just in case we need to make multiple trips.” Phil nodded.

“That’s smart, Ranboo.” Phil pushed up from his seat with his good arm. “I nominate Techno to mine it out.” He clapped his hand on Techno’s shoulder. Techno couldn’t even argue with that. He wanted to make it up to Phil for the recent events.

“For you Phil… The world.” Techno stated, he stepped out of the caravan helping Phil out as well.

“Thanks mate. You should go check on your friend.” Phil put a tiny bit of emphasis on the word ‘friend’. Techno rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry about your stuff, Kristin and I will keep it safe for you.” Phil patted Techno on the shoulder. After saying their goodbyes, Techno was swift on his feet, descending into the mine. He could see Sapnap and George climbing back up the stairs, but he paid them no mind. Hugging the wall, passing them on the stairs, he could hear their whispers, but he couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying.

“Techno,” Sapnap called as he turned to look at the half piglin. “We are going to put your chests on the ground so you can get them when you can, George and I are going to look for more survivors.” Techno didn’t even spare him a glance, only raised his hand, to show he heard them. Hearing the huff from Sapnap was the last of his worries. He probably would have gotten the same reaction if he had responded differently anyway.

It had taken a minute, but he finally found himself at the bottom of the staircase, the iron door in front of him almost intimidating. He wasted no time in flicking the lever and stepping through the now open door. His eyes flitted around taking in the scenery before him. People too busy at work to notice him. The cavern though manmade took on the shape like a huge ravine. Off in one corner of the cave, he spied the ray of a beacon shining bright.

‘Well, that explains how they dug all this out in such a short amount of time.’ Techno thought. Looking around at the busy scenery. He didn’t exactly know where to go from here. But he was sure he would find someone who could at least remember that they had seen Dream in the last few hours. Heading toward the beam of light he didn’t have to look to hard. There… Sitting on the wooden spruce step of an unfinished building was Dream… He was looking at his bloodied hands.

Being a hybrid, Techno could just tell… That, that was your blood. Every muscle in his body tensed up. Dream hadn’t noticed him yet.

‘She’s gone.’ The voices wailed in his mind, also demanding for Dreams blood. While he was struggling, to keep a more optimistic view, his heart sank. This didn’t mean she was gone but try telling the voices in his mind that. He stepped up in front of Dream, his arms crossed over his chest. He wasn’t wearing his mask, which was surprising even for Techno. He started wearing that mask ever since Techno scarred up that pretty boy face of his.

“Where is she Dream?” Techno’s monotone voice cut through the air, causing Dream’s eyes to flit up to Techno. Techno watched in amusement, as Dream’s face contorted into a look of animosity.

“Resting,” He stands eyes leveling with Techno. Techno breathes an inward sigh of relief. “I’m surprised to see you here, Techno.” Dream takes slow steps pacing on the step, his eyes never leaving Techno. “I thought you were just going to leave as soon as you got Phil here.”

“Well, you see Dream,” Techno started as he cocked his head to the side. “I have my business here; I can’t just leave. At least not yet. I also couldn’t wait to see how my handiwork on your face healed.” Techno’s eyes ran over Dreams scars striping his cheek and forehead, and finally to the one on the back of Dreams neck. That struck a nerve in Dream. Taking a few seconds Dream smiled, almost evilly.

“Hmmm, what do you think she will feel when she sees what you truly are.” Dream’s sweet voice hit him deep, though Techno refused to show it. “I guess a human and piglin aren’t totally unheard of, seeing that you had to come from somewhere. But what do you think she will feel, when the ‘Blood God’ turns into the bloodthirsty beast?” Rage boiled in his veins; the voices begged for Techno to shut him up. “Guess what Blood God.” Dream’s face contorted into a sneer, “When you have scared the living shit out of her, I will come to be there for her. Because I know, you will slip up.” Dream was still pacing his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Techno was fuming, his hands clenching under his cloak, not that Dream could see them. He was about to say something when a delicate hand landed on his shoulder interrupting the situation. Techno’s eyes scanned over to Nihachu, who had no idea what had been going on.

“Techno!” Niki looked genuinely happy to see him there, “I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Same for you Niki.” Techno gave her a smile, his eyes landing back on Dream. “Dream was just about to take me to see someone.” Even though he was monotone, it held a warning that Dream could hear, loud and clear.

“Oh yes!” Niki clapped her hands together, “How has she been doing Dream?” Dream turned to Niki plastering a smile on his face.

“I patched her up,” Dream said, taking on a friendlier tone than before. “She’s doing a lot better now. Though, she’s still horribly sick,” Niki nodded, looking down in thought.

“Let’s get some food, I’m sure at this point we all need it.” Niki waved them inside the building behind Dream. Techno didn’t hesitate to look around for you. The enchanted golden apple weighing heavy in his pocket. “If she’s resting, she would be in the back room Techno.” Niki chuckled, taking note of his eagerness to see you. “Dream, will you help me set up my kitchen?” Niki turned her attention to Dream.

“Of course!” Dream followed Niki to a smoker in the corner of the room. Dreams eyes narrowing at Techno slightly when Niki wasn’t looking. Techno opted out of their conversation, his eyes looking at the entrance of the back room. Noticing the blood that had pooled on the stone in the middle of the room he avoids it. When he makes it to the entrance of the backroom, he had to duck his head from the doorway to enter.

There you were, sleeping peacefully on a pink bed. He very quietly walks to your side. He hates the worry he has for you… His want to protect you. But if he was being honest with himself, he loved the way you snuggled into him last night, even if it was for warmth. You didn’t look at him like a monster, even after seeing his face, his ears... He vowed that you would never see the other side that liked to come out in his blood thirst.

He sat on a wooden crate leaning his back against the wall, focusing on your ragged breathing. He could hear the activity from the other room. From Niki telling Dream to wash his hands to heavy furniture being moved. It wasn’t long before the smell of food made it to Techno’s nose. He was just going to have to wait for you to wake up. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, wishing he had one of his books to read. He would wait as long as he needed to for you.

“Hey, wake up.” You felt a hand on your shoulder shaking you awake. Your eyes fluttered open to see Dream. He gave you a soft smile before he held out the item in his hands for you to take. He had a bowl of what looked to be rabbit stew. When your eyes focused on him you thankfully took the bowl of food. Your stomach was pleading for food. You took your first bite of the stew and you fell in love with the taste. It was absolutely perfect.

A woman, behind Dream catches your attention, she had handed Techno a bowl of his own. When your eyes land on Techno, you felt so happy. His eyes meet your gaze.

“Thank the gods,” You breathe out. You feel almost all the tensity in your body melt away.

“Nice to see you too.” You saw the small quirk of his mouth. Breathing out a sigh your eyes land back on the woman, who waved at you.

“Hi! I’m Niki.” She sat on the bed next to you. “It’s so nice to meet a friend of Techno’s!”

You shook her hand after you gave her your own name. After a few minutes of small talk and trying not to cough too much, you dug into your meal, with gusto. Everyone else followed suit. You really appreciated the warm liquid soothing your throat.

“Sorry it’s such a small amount everyone,” Niki apologized. “Rationing out food is something that’s going to happen for a while.” Techno leaned forward toward you with his bowl. You looked at him curiously and before you knew it, he was dumping half of his bowl into yours.

“What are you doing?” You asked, looking at him incredulously.

“You need to eat more so you gain your strength and get over this sickness.” He stated plainly, going back to eating what was in his own bowl. “Don’t argue with me on this. You’ll just tire yourself out.” Before you could say anything else. Dream spoke up.

“He’s right.” Dream pushed some of your hair out from your face. You felt a blush rise up your neck and spread on your cheeks when you looked into his eyes. “We just want the best for you.” Your eyes flicked back to Techno, who seemed to be staring down at the stone floor with an unreadable look in his eyes. Not liking having all the attention on you, you simply nodded.

“…Alright.” You gave in. The next few minutes were spent talking with the people around you. It felt… Nice. The last time you had relied on someone was awful, and you hoped it wouldn’t turn into that type of situation again. You couldn’t take it. The whole time you, Dream, and Niki chatted Techno was silent, he would give his input here and there, but… You wanted to talk to him. Alone. You wanted to thank him for everything. You supposed there was time to do it at a later day, you promised yourself you would.

There would be time where you could do that… Right?

#technoblade x reader #technoblade/reader #c!techno x reader #techno fanfic #c!techno #angst #dream x reader #dream mcyt #through fire and ice #mcyt x reader

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marshmallowprotection · 4 years

Text

Saeran’s Passport Package

I’ve been waiting since the 19th to get my hands on this baby and I’m glad that it got here today. It took me a little bit to sit down and go through everything cause I wanted to cry about it the entire time.

Spoilers Ahead, everyone. So, if you’re not interested in seeing what’s in the Passport set AFTER the events of Saeran’s After Ending, then do not click Read More, got it? I’ve made it clear to you. I will say that it’s worth the money if you’re debating buying it.

So, we can go over the contents in the box, first as an overview. You receive a letter stamped with a cute sticker as well as the passport itself which holds the notes that Saeran’s been taking and drawing since this all started. I just think that’s cute. My brain said don’t open that passport until we review the letter first so, why don’t we go over the letter first? The little details are really cute. There’s just so many stamps on this baby.

The little touches are what sell it. You’ve got this man putting his love all over it and there’s a CUTE NOTE of CATS. Sir, was that a touch to Saeyoung? I know you know that your brother is a dork. Homage to brother who is an idiot but too glaringly obvious. It got a chuckle out of me. I know this man, and it’s just getting to me.

The passport itself is also really cute. It has the art from the promo banner but instead of everyone hustling around together, there’s new poses and all of that jazz. Jaehee isn’t rushing around. Zen’s got a selfie stick, no surprise on that front. Jumin just chilling. Seven and Yoosung... doing what they do best and you know it. RUN, YOOSUNG, RUN.

Saeran and MC... being cute on the inside made me go, “Aw!” Ice cream. They can really just put ice cream and it’s going to make me cry, huh? Really? Is that how easy this is? Am I a joke to you, Cheritz? Is that what this is?

Now, if you want to talk about the contents in the letter, you get this sheet that is listed in three languages, surprised me, Korean, Spanish, and English, and it lets you tick off little things that you like to do. An itinerary sheet. I feel like this is purely Jumin crafting these. It asks about Cats. Literally. Cats. Wine? Yeah, this is on Jumin. You always come in flex, Jumin, but oh boy, I’m chuckling over here at these little touches.

You get 2 boarding passes. One with Saeran’s name and one with a blank to fill in your name. I thought that was cute. Tying in that with the CG of the passes in the game with this just makes it more real to me. I’m holding this in my hands and it just makes my immersion feel much more real than it did when I was holding my phone in my hand and playing this out.

I think merch like this just makes you feel more apart of the story then you do when you’re able to talk and chat, you know? If you really like feeling like you are involved with the game, this is how you do it. You wanna know how I know that Jumin is the one setting this up with Saeran? Flip over the fucking passport and you realize that Elizabeth is on the back.

I’m still laughing.

I’m trying to imagine this and now, like, I’m starting to see why Jaehee is so damn tired because Elizabeth really is on everything that he can get his hands on and she’s good too many files to sort through when it comes to whatever the photographers take of her. Jumin can’t take photos. He’s either got Jihyun to do this for him at some point, or he’s straight up hiring photographers for her cause he can’t do it.

I mean, we all know that Jumin will put Elizabeth everywhere but I just— It’s on the BOARDING PASSES? JUMIN!

There’s also a postcard within the letter that is once more, written in all three aforementioned languages. Saeran says that it feels like a dream when he is with you, like this is where he’s always meant to be. His promise of happiness is made truest when he’s with you. I teared up a little. I know that he means well when he does that but damn, does it take an arrow to the heart every single time he does it.

Saeran put a lot of thought into this in a very short amount of time. I know that he did this plan likely with the idea that he may not be able to go with us but he wanted us to be able to see the world for him. You know, how he implied that he wanted Saeyoung to see things for him? To live for him? Even if he was dead, he wanted Saeyoung and the player to be happy and free.

The blurred state on those... doesn’t have names. It doesn’t name Saeran in this photo.

The implication of his sacrifice with the boarding passes kind of hurts because this is a side note of the fact that Saeran Did Not Know If He Would Live To See This Through. He made it thinking maybe.. if things worked out, it would be an okay future, but this was... God. I just. I’m thinking about the weight of the AE and what that felt like. I almost glossed over the Boarding Pass because I was just so upset with him.

I’m the type to try to sacrifice myself for others, too. I have that in common with Saeyoung and Saeran.

I think that we’d argue over who should die for the others and while that’s macabre, it’s just the kind of people that we are. We love these people so much that we’re willing to die if they’re safe and sound. Knowing that, I understand what Saeran tried, and even what Saeyoung tries, but it’s hard cause I want to make sure they’re happy in comparison to myself.

This is where being selfless is a bad thing.

Does anyone know what a big deal it is for Saeran to have a passport? He’s never had an ID or paperwork in his entire life. If he did, he would’ve been killed, so would his brother. They’re both never had IDs. Unless you count the ones from the Agency and Mint Eye. They’ve got them in the Believer box with their names and faces, but that’s not official. That’s not paperwork that everyone else has. That’s just...

You know?

Seeing this tangible thing in my hands is a testament to Saeran Choi being alive and thriving. He’s not afraid of showing his face. He’s living. He’s a free man and nobody can kill him for existing. Does that not weigh on anyone here? It hit me and I wanted to cry. I might break down thinking about this later because I just take this too seriously. Look at him. Look at HIM. Okay? Did you look? Now, LOOK AGAIN.

Okay, I’m not going to share every single page inside of the passport but I will give you little snippets of the journey ahead and show you what he writes and draws. Yes, he’s drawing. I knew that he was talented because he is great at doodling and drawing, but he knows how to have such a cute style that I want to gush about and he probably has no clue about how cute it is because nobody’s ever told him!

Okay, so the trip is broken up over a few months and into segments. You know how I was surprised by the 3 languages? Yes, this passport is written in three languages and it stays that way. It implies that Saeran knows English and Spanish, or at the very least, he’s been studying them, I get that it’s kind of a neat tie in to make sure that all languages are included but I only English and I can only read Spanish, I suck at conversational Spanish, so I could only read the English and Spanish sections.

So, if anyone wants to throw in what the Korean segments say, please do. I have a rough idea, but it’d be nice to know. The first segment of the trip is spent traveling over Korea. You see the things that he packed in the bag!

I almost had a heart attack because I thought the vitamins were Caffeine Pills. I was about to beat my Husband and make him go to bed. Thin ice, Saeran. Thin ice, the Special Believer package implied you take more then ten and I want you to go the fuck to sleep at night.

He packed his hanbok! Look! You remember? From the title screen event? The blue shirt is the one that he matches with MC in. There’s so much I’m screaming about it.

It shows you things that you do. Like, biking, karaoke, gardens... is there a locket bridge in Korea? You know? If you put them together on a bridge, it’s said that your love lasts forever. I forget where that came from but I guess there must be one in South Korea, too. Oh, and food. Can you believe that he can eat whatever he wants now? I’m sobbing.

Please.

HE’S IN HANBOK. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

Okay, here’s the thing. I only have one gripe with the Passport Package and I’m going to say this again at the end, but I really wish that they had included big photos for this because the Passport itself it rather small and I wish that I could have bigger photos of this. It’s my only complaint. Literally, it’s the only thing I have to say about the box that will affect my rating. Look, we’re doing cheesy couple stuff!

HE’S DOING THE HEART THING WITH HIS HANDS.

A KISS.

KISS.

GUSHING.

DYING. HELP. ME.

God, I wish I wasn’t broke. I would commission someone to do this for my MC.

The second and third portion of the trip are spent in the U.S.A. and Mexico, I was so surprised by that! New York and Hawaii specifically are what they name and I was. Well, those are really far apart, huh. I mean, those are very popular spots. I’m not surprised. I’m chuckling because he’s got matching outfits.

Saeran Choi, you really want the embarrassing couple look, don’t you? Well, if it’s for you, I’d do it. Did... Saeyoung or Jumin set us up, are we fucking loaded? There’s mad bank here.

Saeran and MC basically are living per Jumin and Saeyoung, to be honest, because Saeran’s never had a job and MC is... your MC literally agrees to go and test a game in the woods, how good can our lives be? I’m broke, boy. I ain’t got nothing. So, I like to think that those two are offering to let Saeran be as happy and free as he wants. No expense. Like, kindness. The RFA is too damn much, I’m gonna cry. I’m starting to understand why the RFA didn’t hear from us for months.

The final Check-In with the RFA is set 6 Months after the events that take place when we save Saeran. The events of this Passport cover 3 months. So, we go back to Korea after this adventure and met up with Saeyoung, because we know that we’re hanging out with him in the conclusion. So, if they haven’t really heard from us, that means that we’ve been traveling more with him.

I kind of like that.

We’re spending time with Saeran alone and time with the brothers together, and that’s sweet! I love that. I need to write more about it.

I’m trying not to laugh about this Mexico portion but it looks like he passed out from an ice tea... lemonade...? It’s surely not alcohol. Maybe too much sugar, I know that crash can hurt. I’ve been there. I just know that you’re not implying the man with alcohol trauma is gonna drink. Nope. Neither he nor Saeyoung ever will do that. I stand by that statement and I’ll die by that statement. Bite me my tongue if I’m wrong, but I stand by that.

Saeran is at least mindful of the sun. He’s also made notes that the perfect time for sunset is 18:34. Cute. He notes that it’s time for the Day of the Dead as well, so that’s fun!

IS THAT A FUCKING V CACTUS—

TWO V CACTUS—

There’s actually a portion in here where he asks you certain questions and you have the space to fill in it. I like that it’s interactive.

Do you have favorites sweets? Are there things about yourself that you hide? Did you make sure to ask Santa what you wanted? I’m wheezing. The food doodles are one thing, and the Christmas photo is one thing, but he really drew himself as a butterfly and the MC as a bug catcher.

“CATCH ME, MC.”

Help me.

I’m laughing so hard.

Saeran, you fucking goofball.

And, the last page of the passport is us assumedly returning home with all kinds of trinkets and gifts. Flower crown, snow globe, cactus, hats, listen, there’s a lot of details in this photos that I really wish I could have it blown up.

That’s really my only complaint about the Passport Package. I really want to have bigger photos that are shared. I wouldn’t have minded if it was the photo of the final CG in the game, or the Christmas photo, I really would have enjoyed getting that to have for myself.

You know? The passport itself is roughly like 5 x 7 or so, so while it’s not big, it’s still like. I would love to see the details blown up. It’s smaller then the diary, that I know for sure. I think it’s the only thing stopping from giving Cheritz a 10/10 on this item.

I’m going to have to give them a 9.8/10 simply because it feels like we are lacking one big photo.

I guess I’ll print my favorite CGs and decorate my room like that. But, all and all, I really enjoyed reading this and it made it feel like I was there and I was able to reflect on Saeran’s vacation with the player. Like, he was doing this as we were going using his little doodles... I’m in love with this fucking sap. I’d say that this is worth the money.

For sure.

My only gripe aside. That’s a personal problem, not really a content problem. I love this bastard.

Look at him, he’s GOT A PLUSHIE. I have so many things that I want to write about now thanks to this. Saeran, darling, sweetie, my love, I am dying. Either way, I’m glad this arrived when it did. I needed this. I justified getting this for myself because I don’t expect to get anything for my birthday in early February but I’m happy I have him.

It’s been five years since I found this game in August 2016. I’m happy that it’s been here with me.

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makeste · 4 years

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BnHA Chapter 282: Aizawa Defeeted

Previously on BnHA: Oh my god do we even care about that at this point. Tomura made a speech; Gran Torino died; Deku lost his shit and tried to strangle Tomura to death with his bare hands; Ryuukyuu came back from Wherever She Was and tried to grab Tomura but he punched a hole through her giant hand; and now he’s grabbing his Quirk-Be-Gone bullets and is ready to cause some mayhem okay?? That about sum it up?? Is anyone even reading this?? CAN WE JUST GET ON WITH IT I’VE WAITED AN ENTIRE WEEK.

Today on BnHA: Well I guess let’s start with what doesn’t happen: Bakugou doesn’t lose his quirk. HE LUCKED OUT!!... for now, anyways. Because, thanks to a near-impossible-to-predict series of events (seriously, raise your hands if you had “Aizawa gets shot but goes full World War Z on his own ass” on your bingo card), Tomura has seemingly regained his regeneration powers, which means that his other quirks are probably back online as well! So we’ll see how that all goes. Anyway so in the meantime Shouto’s back, looking very mad that everyone temporarily forgot he was a main character. And Gigantomachia is back as well! Or almost, anyway. Also, you’ll never guess who broke another one of his arms! Go on, guess. But at least he still has the arm, though, which is more than we can say for certain other people’s limbs. Poor Aizawa is literally on his last leg. He and Tomura really got off on the wrong foot. He chopped his leg off, is what I’m saying. It’s that kind of chapter folks.

you guys I’m losing my whole fucking mind. I straight up deleted the tumblr app off my phone for 24 hours so that I wouldn’t be tempted to log in and risk potentially being spoiled. and I’m happy to say that it worked! so here we are now, completely spoiler free, and let me just say that if Horikoshi decides to cut back to Gunga Mountain now, I will either cry for hours or abandon the series forever and go do something more productive with the rest of my quarantine like learning how to play sad songs on the guitar

all right. here goes

so we’re opening with Deku, who is currently comprised of 100% rage and 0% mercy, and is doing that thing where only the whites of his eyes are visible. and basically he’s just thinking “I’VE REALLY GOT TO HOLD ON TO THIS GUY AND MAKE SURE HE DOESN’T DO ANYTHING ELSE HOMICIDAL.” which is a solid game plan, but perhaps not so easily accomplished

-- oh my god this poor kid is still in denial, I can’t. why are you doing this

is there even still a Gran Torino to tend to at this point? after Tomura bulldozed a hole through his torso, and you went and finished the job with your own fucking attack? sob

but I guess the law of Tragic Shounen Mentor Deaths mandates that Gran’s should be at least as drawn-out as Nighteye’s was, though. so he’s probably only Mostly Dead, which is still Slightly Alive if I remember my Princess Bride correctly, and I think I do

so now the rest of these stooges are finally catching up with us here

yes, my friends. a bullet. WELCOME TO MY LIFE FOR THE PAST FUCKING WEEK. anyways I have a LOT of pent-up energy here just fyi. there may be a lot of unnecessary screaming in this recap

FUCKING WYOMING SMASH Y’ALLSSSS

I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT JUST HAPPENED SOB. DID HE JUST HAMMER FIST TOMURA’S HEAD INTO THE GROUND. DID HE SNAP HIS FUCKING NECK AT 100%. IN AN IDEAL WORLD HE WOULD HAVE JUST CHOPPED TOMURA’S ARMS OFF WHILE SOMEHOW MANAGING TO AVOID BREAKING ANY OF HIS OWN BONES IN THE PROCESS, BUT I HAVE A FEELING THIS SITUATION WILL NOT BE RESOLVED IN ANY KIND OF MANNER ONE WOULD CONSIDER “IDEAL”

(ETA: fun fact: this attack did absolutely nothing except make things approximately 100x worse. but you tried Deku. you tried.)

THE FUCK KIND OF PORTENTOUS BULLSHITTING TITLE IS THIS. OH MY GOD, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT EMOTION I’M HAVING RIGHT NOW, IT’S JUST A LOT OF LOUD THOUGHTS

anyway so if you’re just joining us, Tomura just pulled two bullets out of his pocket, the good guys finally noticed, and then Deku did a smash and everything exploded. the radius of this attack actually looks wide enough to have potentially involved Aizawa, who probably does NOT want to get any debris in his eyes right now, and also Gran, who probably doesn’t particularly want to be hit by another deadly attack for the third time in the past ninety seconds. anyway so I guess what I’m trying to say here is WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT YOU LITTLE GREEN LUNATIC

AHHHHHH

he got the one!! the one that was in Tomura’s right hand!! but what about the one in his left ahhhhhhh

(ETA: lmao at Kacchan being the one to blow up the same bullet I was so sure he was going to be shot with. saw the writing on the wall, huh kid? what do we say to the god of foreshadowing?? ‘NOT TODAY.’ ...except that we’re still not actually out of the woods yet so you still better watch yourself lol.)

...

based on the font here, these are Tomura’s thoughts. which he is thinking immediately after getting the lower half of his jaw very painfully cronched by the VERY homicidal sixteen-year-old still clinging to him. anyway so Tomura’s thought processes are as inscrutable to me as ever lulz

and Deku’s arm looks broken again, yaaaaay. but at least it’s his left arm and not his right! so that’s nice. now they can match

[SHRIEKS]

HE YEETED IT. IT HAS BEEN YEETEDED. HE DID A YEET. [sobbing] he DiD a YeEt oH my GOD

DID IT HIT SOMETHING!?!?!?

my reading process here is as follows: 1) scroll down exactly one panel. 2) scream even though absolutely nothing has happened yet. 3) WRITE THAT DOWN 4) REPEAT

DKSFJLKHSDLGKHLI

DID IT HIT HIM!?!? DID IT GET HIM IN THE LEG SOB ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. JUST LIKE THAT?? BOOM GUN BULLET LEG!!?

YOU GUYS IT REALLY HIT AIZAWA AND NO ONE DID A GODDAMN THING?? it wasn’t even drawn out or anything??? it just HAPPENED, within like four pages??? NO SLOW MO?? NOT EVEN A REACTION PANEL WHAT THE FUCK

son of a bitch I would so dearly like to grab Manual and RockLockRock’s heads right now and just conk them together real hard. YOU STUPID FUCKS sob YOU HAD ONE JOB!!! IT REALLY WAS JUST ONE!! AND YOU WERE SHARING IT!! SO IT’S MORE LIKE HALF A JOB!! AND YOU STILL COCKED IT UP IN ABSOLUTELY NO TIME AT ALL OH MY GOD

(ETA: they should blow this panel up and make it into a t-shirt and make Manual and RLR wear the shirts every day for the rest of their lives. half a job, you guys. please go away I cannot even look at you right now.)

FUCK MY EVERYTHING

(ETA: I still can’t figure out if this horrific angle is due to the earlier damage from the Noumu, or if Tomura really just flung the bullet THAT hard. honestly I’m surprised it didn’t just slice right through him with that kind of velocity. “no thanks because then I wouldn’t get to write a scene where he chops his own leg off” oh okay well when you put it that way, Horikoshi.)

if I recall correctly this is the leg that he said was “twisted”, no? yeesh. might just want to chop it off real quick, then. s’not like it’s doing you any more good. does anyone know if zombie rules apply or not with this sort of thing?? shit

?!?!

“THANKS”?? okay what. did it hit him or not??

-- oh my god WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT

I WAS -- I WAS JOKING I -- FFFFFFFFKJK

jesus fucking christ. when I said “might just want to chop it off real quick” literally FOUR PARAGRAPHS AGO, I can tell you that the one thing I did NOT expect was for Aizawa to be all, “you know what, that’s a good idea”, and then YOINK OUT HIS TRUSTY HERO SHANK AND GO FULL 127 HOURS ON THIS BITCH. "LALALA WE’RE GONNA DO IT RATIONALLY TEEHEE” like excuse me, the fuck

anyways. I don’t even know what to say. thank you Aizawa’s leg for your sacrifice, and for always supporting him. literally. oh my god I came here ready for my son to enter a new phase of character development, and for the manga as a whole to enter a new phase of glorious, glorious angst. no one told me I’d be sitting here making puns instead. what a fine, confusing day

anyway though let’s just fucking hope it worked. and side note, if Aizawa Shouta really did chop off his own fucking leg just now and somehow STILL managed not to fucking blink, I think we might as well just go ahead and hand him the Biggest Badass In The Series award right now because no one is ever going to top that. nope. not happening

it is truly a testament to Shigaraki Tomura’s unfathomably mysterious sexy villain energy that he still somehow manages to look hot with only half a face

also no one in this manga actually feels pain, do they. not Deku, not Aizawa, not Tomura, no one. no wonder none of them have any self-preservation instincts to speak of

did someone just randomly explode just now. at this point it might as well happen, right

oh it’s the shockwave from Deku’s Wyoming attack, apparently. how nice of it to have a delayed reaction for absolutely no reason

anyway so Deku’s being flung back, but he’s grabbing onto Tomura again with Blackwhip. but oh shit you guys, if Tomura escapes Deku and Ryuukyuu’s clutches and still has any bullets left in his pocket, we may still be able to salvage this Bakugou quirk situation after all. would be nice to be able to actually do something with all of these “happy quirk losing day” balloons that I ordered

(ETA: actually, believe it or not I honestly like this better. Tomura using AFO was always the more dramatic option anyway. and now that we’ve done the bullet thing everyone has presumably let their guard down again, which, good.)

I love how Tomura apparently hasn’t noticed that Aizawa’s just amputated his own leg? to be fair he’s probably distracted by all the explosions and such

also gotta love how Deku’s arm-breaking attack seemingly just made everything worse for no reason. and also how Manual and RockLockRock are once again just standing there doing absolutely nothing

SO NOW GUESS WHAT’S HAPPENING

I MEAN IT! GUESS. BECAUSE YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE LOL

OH WELL OKAY THEN

just like we all saw coming!! ...

so is this Endeavor’s attack?? Bakugou’s?? either way, hot damn. fortunately for Tomura he is apparently operating under the same guidelines as the U.S. Federal Reserve, in which mutilated bills may still be exchanged at face value if more than 50% of a note identifiable as United States currency is present. basically as long as roughly half of him is still vaguely Tomura-shaped I assume he’ll be fine

(ETA: in hindsight I should have immediately been able to identify this as a Shouto attack based solely on how murdery it was lol.)

OH MY GODDDD

KRANCH?!?

OH MY GOD LOL WHAT. LOL. REMEMBER EVERYONE’S THEORIES FROM LIKE TWENTY YEARS AGO LOL. SHOUTO WHAT THE FUCK. DID YOU STOP FOR DRIVE THRU

AND MEANWHILE DEKU’S BACK ON THE SCENE GIVING ARGUABLY EVEN LESS FUCKS THAN BEFORE, IF SUCH A THING IS EVEN POSSIBLE. SO FAR THIS CHAPTER HAS PRECISELY ZERO THINGS THAT I ACTUALLY EXPECTED IN IT, WHICH IS VERY IMPRESSIVE

IT ALSO HAS A LOT OF SMASHING

a LOT. of smashing, guys. feels like... 60% smashing, 20% severed legs, 20% Kranch

-- oh no oh SHIT oh shit oh shit

(ETA: um so I really can’t tell how far that wound extends and whether or not Aizawa still has his right eye, shit.)

first of all how did Deku get here next to Aizawa when he was just over there with Tomura, what. and second, I think Aizawa just blinked, oh shit. probably on the verge of passing out after CHOPPING HIS OWN LEG OFF which STILL hasn’t been acknowledged yet?? did I just completely misinterpret all of that back there or what

(ETA: there was seriously so little attention called to this that I scrolled back up to confirm it probably like half a dozen times. apparently Horikoshi thinks that THE MOST BADASS THING TO EVER HAPPEN IN THE MANGA should be completely downplayed. whereas if it were me, there’d be an entire two page spread of JUST THE LEG. WITH MUSIC PLAYING. EVEN THOUGH IT’S A MANGA.)

YEPPPPPPP. fuck

look at him though. he’s so happy. this is why I can’t stay mad at you no matter how deranged you get you little maniac

so is quirk-stealing back on the menu then or what. don’t think I’ve been lulled into any kind of false sense of security by any of this lol

-- ARE WE SERIOUSLY CUTTING AWAY

so Todoroki really went after them ALONE. the better to put his dad right back up at the top of the Lose Your Quirk Sweepstakes finalists. well... second-to-top, maybe. like I said I will not be lulled

yuh-oh

why do I feel like the odds of Gigantomachia arriving to herald the end of this chapter just shot up DRAMATICALLY

so the next page is almost entirely just a list of cities that the news anchor is telling people to evacuate because they’re in Machia’s path. along with a bunch of dead heroes lying around everywhere, and Ochako being all ominous

(: weren’t they, though? heh. this is going to be so, so bad (: (: (:

-- fuuuuuuuuuuu

aaaaaand that’s it. hahahaha. okay then let’s summarize

Bakugou defied all expectations and kept his quirk (FOR NOW)!

Aizawa cut his own fucking leg off and it WASN’T EVEN REMOTELY ACKNOWLEDGED FOR REASONS I CAN’T UNDERSTAND (R.I.P. AIZAWA’S PRECIOUS LEG. YOU ALWAYS PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD)

Kranch showed up after 157 years and is probably wondering why the heck I keep calling him “Kranch” now. THINGS CHANGE WHEN YOU’RE MIA FOR A WHILE MY LITTLE STARBUCKS CHRISTMAS CUP

Deku broke his arm for the 78th time

Tomura regenerated but seems to think Aizawa’s quirk is actually gone for good, which I’m pretty sure it’s not. so if they can keep him from destroying everything long enough for Aizawa to turn it back on again, we might possibly still survive this

and lastly, Machia is about to kill all of these stupid people frolicking around outside of this fitness club who are probably so proud of themselves for not being glued to their phones 24/7 because they prefer to LIVE LIFE IN THE MOMENT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. well that’s on you my friends. at least it’ll be a quick death. ffff

#bnha 282 #aizawa shouta #shigaraki tomura #midoriya izuku #todoroki shouto #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha #sorry for all the leg puns #it's in my nature #I can't help it if I find this kind of situation humerus #...oh no wait that's arms #dammit

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noahrussell · 2 years

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TASK 202: THE MINI PLAYLISTS.

Casey Russell- Listen along here

Hey Brother by Avicii- Oh, if the sky comes falling down, for you, There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

So I picked this song for a few handful of reasons. Outside the obvious I feel like it’s a testament to the bond Noah and Casey have. I think Ella said it really well that the two of them would be very unlikely friends if they weren’t related and the fact that they are is almost fate like because despite everything Noah considers Casey to be his very best friend. He’s the first person Noah thinks of to look up to and one of the few people in this town he’d do absolutely anything for. I think there’s also a component in the second verse of this song that asks if they still believe in one another which is a big ask after everything they went through last season and the secrets that are starting to come out this season. Asking the big questions.

Everything Must Go by Artist vs. Poet- the pain behind my mother's eyes. She said everything must go. Your comic books, dinosaurs, and GI Joe's. Close that white picket fence. The one you miss when you're not home. She said everything must go

Something I love a lot about the dynamic between Noah and Casey is this story of their turbulent home life that flies under the radar. It’s like yes they both have these much bigger secrets, but they also have this life back home that neither of them talk about. This place that they survived instead of thrived in. This song is kind of my homage to them leaving that place.

Coffee Break by Forever the Sickest Kids- 'Cause I've overcommitted myself. I guess this is growing. I'm sleeping so little these days. I guess this is growing up. I'm feeling things are about to change

This song honestly almost didn’t make the cut but I kept it on here because it’s about taking that break in time just to breathe before getting back into the chaos of the world. That’s very much what I feel like Casey is for Noah. He is that bright moment where he can turn the writing brain off and have fun and be at peace throughout all the dark shit that touches their lives.

I Will Follow You into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie- If Heaven and Hell decide that they both are satisfied, Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs. If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks. Then I'll follow you into the dark.

I was feeling really sappy about putting this song on here but it’s honestly the god damn truth. Noah would follow Casey into war if he asked him to. Its a further testament to their brotherhood and the lengths he would go to in order to keep his brother safe, healthy, and happy.

Rory Collins- Listen Along Here

Voldemort by With Confidence- And I will try to hold you up through those times when you are gone. Despite the weather, it gets better. You won't do this alone

So this song to me holds a lot of significance for Noah and Rory. I remember when we first started sending them on their journey as the teen detectives I loved this idea that no matter how turbulent things became for them, they were never going to have to do it alone. Noah and Rory became this dynamic duo in everything they did which yes did eventually develop into feelings but I think the journey they went on to get there was actually a very sweet one.

Conversations with my Wife by Jon Bellion- I dreamt I slept on a sidewalk, but you still laid with me. I dreamt I fell in a lion's den, and you still came for me. I dreamt I lost all of my faith, and you still prayed for me

I picked this song for Noah and Rory in part because it’s a testament to how far they’re willing to go for one another. That no matter what secrets get exposed, or how dangerous a situation gets they’ll have each other. This song is about turning away from fame. It’s about loving someone when their phone turns off. And I feel like even though it was a different kind of fame they were attracting within the last year, I feel like Noah and Rory’s running from the spotlight included falling into each other.

I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles- Oh, please, say to me. You'll let me be your man. And please, say to me you'll let me hold your hand.

You really don’t get more simple an explanation than the name of the song. Claire and I used to joke that the only times Noah would hold Rory’s hand was when they were running away from danger. It took so long for him to build up the bravery to hold her hand just because he wanted to and now that they’ve done it he never wants to stop.

Kitty Maddox- Listen Along Here

If You Never Broke My Heart by Dylan Brady- And I never would'vе found the one. The one that I got wrapped up in my arms. If you never broke my heart.

So I personally think this song is kinda funny but very fitting for Noah and Kitty. It’s very much about a couple breaking up and all the challenges they faced when they were together. And while Noah and Kitty were never officially a couple it kind of feels like they went through a lot. They’re kind of those two who’s feelings just kind of missed each other. He never knew she liked him back. She was always worried about him affecting her popularity. There was just a lot about them that didn’t work. And if it hadn’t been for those heart breaks they would have never found Mac and Rory.

You Broke Me First by Tate McRae- Now suddenly you're asking for it back. Could you tell me, where'd you get the nerve? Yeah, you could say you miss all that we had. But I don't really care how bad it hurts. When you broke me first.

So we’ve kind of got a theme for Noah and Kitty. A lot of these songs are going to be about heartbreak and getting your heart broken. This song felt fitting because in Noah’s mind not only did Kitty not ever like him, no one ever really has. So he’s filled with a lot of hurt feelings by Kitty showing such disdain for his new relationship. He’s finally got this person he can love who loves him back so openly only to be met with vitriol from people he’s only ever tried to please.

My Heart I Surrender by I Prevail- Chasing love that can never be mine. Maybe one day you'll realize. These words you should always remember to you, my heart I surrender.

So I realize this isn’t necessarily about heartbreak but at the end of the day, Kitty is the first person Noah ever offered his heart too and for that she will always have a special place in his heart. And even though their stars may never align, I think Noah would very much still do just about anything for Kitty. She’s always going to be someone he’s going to care for and want to keep safe even if they no longer mesh romantically.

#cusatask202 #Yes I realize I have the music taste of a 12 year old boy #mind ya business

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theprettiestlamb · 3 years

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Take Me Away (Helmut Zemo x F!SE Asian!Plus Size! Reader) [PART 1]

Word Count: 1244

Description: The unassuming prison librarian catches Zemo's attention. When he escapes, she could take him back to prison. But does she?

Author's Note: Guess who's finally sliding in with their Daniel Brühl character fic debut? I was going to write all the parts first and post them all together, but I don't even know how long I want this to be and which events from the show I'm including. Hopefully uploading in chapters like this will also motivate me to write more and eventually create a routine (*laugh cries in I write whenever the fuck I feel like it*)

Special thanks to @unlikelymilliner for that post about Zemo's books, because only God knows how long I'd be looking for the title of that Machiavelli book.

Warnings: Mentions of experimentation

(Y/N) didn't think she would ever fall in love with a criminal.

She lived a good deal of her life under the oppressive thumb of a group of them.

A remnant of that past remained in the form of what was essentially a shock collar strapped around her neck as part of one of their sick experiments.

Thankfully, the strip of velvet sent electrical jolts only when an attempt was made to remove the device.

No one knew the story behind it, save for one man.

She quickly took note of him the moment he walked into the library. Several inmates had already come in and left, but none had paid her any mind. She didn't expect them to. They came to get their books and went about their day. But there was one person who left an impression.

He wasn't intimidating like most other inmates. In fact, she was shocked to discover he was in solitary confinement.

It helped immensely that he was easy on the eyes, though she knew better than to let something like that put her at ease. That's how they get you.

Due to his status, he wasn’t allowed around other prisoners. It was just the two of them, plus the guard who stood by while he browsed the non-fiction section.

She greeted the man, just as she would anyone else, and received a small grin in return.

Dorothy, the head librarian, had given (Y/N) the task of updating the book logs since the computer was down the previous day.

The latter logged in with her newly acquired employee ID and got to work inputting names, ISBNs and book titles.

Halfway through the list, she sensed someone in front of her.

When she looked up from the computer screen, the man who came in stood at the other side of the big walnut desk, a book in his hands.

The first thing she saw was a pair of brown eyes that turned gold when the fluorescent lights hit them at a certain angle. The second was a mild-mannered aura, similar to the one she’d seen earlier. Something about his face seemed different this time. It almost reminded her of herself

She wouldn't have picked up on it unless she stared enough at both, which is what she was doing.

Unbeknownst to her, he'd spoken.

"Are you new here?" he inquired again.

His inflection showed no signs of incredulousness, simply curiosity.

Over the course of her working at the library, she would have the displeasure of prisoners telling her off when she politely asked them to keep noise at a minimum or leaving the seating areas in disarray. While she only knew this man for all of two minutes, (Y/N) could see he wasn't going to cause her trouble.

She said, shyly. "Today's my first day."

Now that they were engaged in conversation, she observed a few more things about him: he had short, light brown hair, most of which was straight, save for the curl framing one side of his pale face.

When he smiled, his lips didn't take on the shape of a crescent, as one's normally would. Instead, they formed a soft "w".

He had an accent. From where, she couldn't place. Russia? Germany?

"Ah... well," he placed his book on the countertop and slid it towards her. "It's nice to see a different face, especially a kind one."

Her cheeks got warm, a tinge of pink upon them. Thankfully, her tan complexion made it nearly impossible to detect. Yet, somehow, she thinks he did.

She averted her gaze, and in doing so, she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.

"Let me just log your books real quick," she slipped a chart from the bottom of the four-paper pile on top of the one she was transcribing earlier.

The book was Fortuna ist ein Reissender Fluss by Roger D. Masters. From what she could tell, it was about Leonardo Da Vinci's and Niccolò Machiavelli's quest to turn Florence, Italy into a seaport.

Intellectual, she thought to herself while writing down the book information.

"Have you read Machiavelli?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

For the fraction of a minute, she was torn between lying and looking stupid. If she said yes, he would more than likely ask what she thinks of something she's never even read before. He would see right through her. If she said no, she would out herself as someone who was uneducated, which was true to some extent. Yet another person would see her the way she felt since she left her homeland: a girl from some faraway place barely anyone knew existed, let alone cared about. The only stories about her people she's heard from outsiders were of inhabitants who didn't go to school, only wore rags and lived in filth.

She didn't want someone who has been so decent to her so far turn against her because of these prejudices.

"No, I haven't, actually..." she replied, meekly.

He nodded a bit with a small grin. "What I find intriguing is the relevance it holds today as well as its testament to his era. I think everyone should read them."

"I'll have to look into it," she hummed curiously and turned the form towards him, setting her pen down parallel to it. "I'm always looking for something to read."

"What kind of books do you like?" he asked while writing his name and initials.

He made eye contact with her again when he was finished.

"I've read a bunch of different genres: horror, satire, poetry," her lip perked when his eyes lit up.

She felt more confident and continued, "I'm currently reading a biography on RFK. When I heard how he was sensitive, the 'odd man out' in his family... I knew I had to learn more about him. I think his empathy allowed him to see past the labels society put so much weight on, like social class and race. I like biographies and learning about certain people. Some more well-known than others."

Though she wasn't able to attend a university due to her captivity, she was lucky enough to have a grandparent who was a teacher, instilling a sense of discipline and dedication to learning. Once she got to a mainland, she read constantly. She managed to restart her education and a new life from the ground up.

"Hm," the prisoner hummed, seemingly mulling over her words. "Impressive."

He threw her another smirk, one she found charming.

"T-Thank you," she mirrored the expression, except she was sure she looked like a timid schoolgirl.

What was he doing to me? she asked herself.

The guard at the door caught both their attention.

"Hey," he said sternly to the man and tilted his head towards the hall, hinting that they have to go.

The latter nodded and turned back to the librarian, taking the book in his hands after she'd stamped and closed the back cover.

"Well, it was nice chatting with a fellow bibliophile. I hope to see you again," he glanced at her name tag. "(Y/N)."

"You as well—" she was about to refer to the log he'd signed, but he saved her the trouble.

"Helmut," he smiled again, eyes crinkling a bit and waved his book in farewell before leaving.

She watched the two men leave and read the log.

In the third column, was the name: Helmut Zemo

She swore she knew it from somewhere, but where?

#The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #Daniel Brühl #Helmut Zemo #Baron Zemo #Helmut Zemo x reader #Baron Zemo x reader #that library is in the Netherlands #and I don't imagine the one in the actual prison being this nice #but shhhh #no one has to know #my fics #mine

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